


What Summer Brings

by crystaltabboo



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Bellarke, College, Drinking, Drinking Games, Friendship, Slow Burn, Summer Vacation, Truth, peices of life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-02
Updated: 2015-04-12
Packaged: 2018-03-20 22:00:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 48,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3666792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crystaltabboo/pseuds/crystaltabboo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bellamy Blake gets a chance to relax and enjoy the pleasures of life now that he and Octavia are grown and stable. Her friends are an added bonus. Clarke Griffin silently holds on to her past, but is determined not to let her ghosts stop her from living her life to the fullest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. We're Free, Bitches

**Author's Note:**

> Okay guys, so I am new here. This will be my first work. And I am so excited! I have so many ideas I want to work in. I believe in heavy details and description, so please don't hate me for adding too much. Also, I don't exactly have an ending in mind. I kind of just want this to be a glimpse into their lives. My poor babies have suffered so much in the show, I strongly feel that they need a break. So, I'm posting this first chapter in Clarke's perspective. It's a trial chapter. I am still looking for my grove. but hopefully it's the first step. So enjoy! And don't forget to leave Kudos!

       Clarke Griffin hated shopping. Growing up, shopping had consisted mainly of her mother ordering sales women around the entire shop as Clarke stood in the middle of the room, trying on whatever type of material handed to her. Ignoring the pang that went through her heart at the memory of her mother, she rounded on her two best friends.  
      “Fine, I’ll go.” Octavia Blake and Raven Reyes both smirked at her, already knowing they would wear her down eventually. “On one condition.” Clarke held up one finger.  
      “What do you want?” Octavia glared at her.  
      “I drive.” Clarke finished saying her demand, then ducked down behind her couch pillow to avoid being hit by any flying objects.  
      “Deal. Raven’s driving scares me too.”  
      “Oh my god. Nothing is wrong with my driving!” The flying pillow caught Octavia in the face. Clarke grinned over at her from behind her shield.  
      “I’m going to go get dressed now.” Clarke jumped from the couch they had been lounging on and ran to her room, leaving the two girls fighting over the pillow.  
      She stopped to survey herself inside of her room. A wall length mirror near her door confirmed what she already knew. She looked horrible. Her blonde hair usually hung down her back in flowing curls, but at the moment, it was balled up into a messy bun that flopped pathetically on the top of her scalp. There were heavy bags under her eyes, making her face look sunk in.  
      Clarke sighed and discarded her current attire, if you could call yoga pants and her large college tee-shirt an attire. She changed into her favorite jeans, needing the reassurance of the tight material. She put on a black flowy tank top and her converse then headed back out into the small restroom she shared with Octavia.  
Entering the restroom from the door in her room, she stood in front of the sink and ran a brush through her hair quickly before throwing it back into her bun. She added some mascara and a small amount of pink lipstick. Clarke figured this was the best she could do on such short notice. The small restroom she was in held two doors, one leading back to her room and the other leading to Octavia’s room. Both girls were connected through the small restroom, being able to go into the other’s space easily. Walking into Octavia’s room, she spotted Raven lounging on the bed.  
      She stopped to stare at her friend for a moment, wishing she had the natural beauty Raven possessed. Her olive skin glowed. She and Clarke were the same height. Raven was thinner, wirier. She had long jet black hair that was always in a ponytail, but when it was down it was full and luscious. Raven’s eyebrows were naturally arched, making her almond shaped brown eyes seem large.  
      “Where is Tavia?”  
      “Somewhere in Narnia.” Raven didn’t look up from her mechanic magazine, waving her arm in the general direction of Octavia’s closet instead. Clarke grinned at her friend, then walked over and threw herself next to Raven.  
      “Hey there, ma’am. Put that magazine down. We are officially on vacation now. No more reading.” Snatching the magazine away from Raven before she could protest, Clarke threw it out into the hallway through Octavia’s open door.  
      “Ugh, you are so rude, Griffin.” Raven muttered, a small smile confirming she wasn’t going to tell her off. “But you are correct. No more classes!” the two girls bumped shoulders, smirking at the idea of their new found freedom.  
      “Hurry up, Tavia. This was your idea.” Clarke called out to the closet. Octavia came out at that moment, a new outfit already fitting her tall frame. She was a tall girl, hovering over Clarke’s small height. Octavia’s hair was dark brown, hanging down in a straight curtain to reach her waist. She was beautiful, of course. Her round brown eyes always crinkling in the corners, her full lips constantly turned up in a grin. Right now, she was wearing small black shorts and a white crop top, leaving her toned abdomen bare.  
      “Whatever. I am ready. Let’s go!”  
      The three girls exited their apartment, making their way down the hallway to the stairs. Their apartment complex didn’t have an elevator, a downfall that always hit them the hardest when they wore heels.  
      “So, where we going first?” Raven asked.  
      “Mm, the mall. We need summer outfits.”  
      “Can we stop at a book store after? I need new reading material for the summer.” Clarke added, ignoring her friends groans. “No really. How else am I going to relax fully?”  
      “Oh, I don’t know. You can go out with us every night? Meet new people?”  
      “Tavia is right, babe. You really should socialize more.”  
      Clarke didn’t respond to that. They had reached the bottom of the stairs. Pushing open the doors leading to their parking garage, the girls continued their bickering.  
      “Shot gun!” Octavia bolted forward first, beating Raven to the door of Clarkes Jeep. Clarke laughed, pressing the unlock button on her key chain. Raven shook her head but jumped in the back seat without complaining.  
      “Fine! But I shotgun the Aux cord!” as Clarke slipped into the driver’s seat, Raven leaned forward, grabbing the cord connected to the radio and throwing herself back before Octavia could stop her. “Ha ha. In your face, baby Blake!”  
      “Oh god, Wick needs to find better nicknames for me!”  
      “I like that nickname. It’s cute.” Raven sniffled in the backseat, turning on Pandora from her phone. Loud music blasted from the speakers. Clarke recognized the song as Radioactive from Imagine Dragons. Octavia gave a loud whoop.  
      “I can’t believe we are on vacation!” she swiveled in her seat to face Clarke. “Can you smell the freedom?! No more finals. No more essays. Holy shit. WE’RE FREE BITCHES!!”  
Raven joined in the whooping, throwing her arms up to touch the ceiling of the jeep. The euphoric feeling creeped out to touch Clarke as well. She let go of the steering wheel and threw her arms up, letting the excitement settle in her heart for a moment, before grabbing the wheel once more. The rest of the car ride was full of more songs and them singing along to the radio at the top of their lungs. They had rolled down the windows, the wind whipping at their skin only added to their exhilarated state of happiness.

     Six hours later and the jeep was laden with bags and boxes. Octavia was in the backseat now, jammed next to a stack of their purchases.  
      “Shit, where are we going to put everything?” She looked doubtfully at the pile next to her.  
      “What are you talking about? You were the one making us buy everything. NOW you’re having doubts?” raven looked at her incredibly.  
      “I began having doubts after I pushed my credit card to the brink of extinction.” Octavia huffed. “I am definitely going to have to pick up a double shift this week.”  
      “I think we all do, Tavia. Don’t sweat it though. We just won’t go shopping the rest of the summer. I honestly think we stocked up for the next two years anyway.” Looking in the mirror, Clarke could tell Octavia was already shaking off her doubt. The girl opened a bag and took out a glasses case, popping it open and putting on the shades. Clarke grinned and looked back at the road.  
      “Jasper and Monty made us dinner.” Raven was looking down at her phone. “I’ll quote, ‘You beautiful classy bitches better not forget to make it to our humble abode. We made you all dinner. And miscellaneous. Of course.’” Raven read out loud the text Jasper had sent.  
      “My god, that boy has a way with words, doesn’t he?” Octavia scoffed.  
      “For real. He should be majoring in literature instead of chemistry.”  
      “If he switched majors, he wouldn’t be able to get us drunk though!” Clarke added in defense for her friend.  
      “I think regardless where we are in life, or what our field of work is, Jasper and Monty will never fail to get us intoxicated.” Raven said, finishing up a reply to Jasper.

      Jasper and Monty lived in their apartment complex, two floors down. They were all students in Ark University. Clarke met Octavia during her freshman year. Jasper and Monty were Octavia’s childhood friends, so when she befriended her, they were a part of the package. They managed to finish their freshman year in one piece, adding Raven to their list of friends through an unfortunate event. That summer, they decided to look for apartments near to each other, and near to campus. AU was down the street from them. They had managed to find a college student neighborhood with plenty of opportunities.  
      They parked in the garage, leaving their packages inside, and ambled up to the third floor. They didn’t even bother knocking, sweeping through the front door.  
      “Honey, I’m home.” Raven called out sarcastically. Monty popped his head out from the kitchen, smiling at them. His dark straight hair flipped stylishly around his face.  
      “Hey guys! Foods ready. Sit around the table in the living room though. Our kitchen table broke.” He frowned.  
      “How did you break the kitchen table?” Clarke asked, noting the way Monty glared behind him.  
      “Ask that fucker.” He dipped back out of view. The three girls looked at each other in confusion. Octavia was the one to follow Monty, as raven and Clarke took a seat.

      Thirty minutes later, everyone was sitting around the coffee table, plates on their laps, cracking up at the hysterics that were their friends.  
      “And then there was a loud crack. Next thing I know, Maya and I are on the floor, along with the table.” Jasper shrugged sheepishly, avoiding everyone’s eyes. Maya was sitting next to him, pushing her food around on her plate. She was beet red, but a small smile lingered on her face. They had just recounted how their sex adventures led to a newly broken table. Even Monty was laughing, feeling better since Jaspers embarrassed confession.  
      “Woo, you two are something else.” Octavia gasped between laughs.  
      “Seriously, I did not think you two nerds had it in you.” Raven agreed.  
      “Hey, I heard it’s the nerdy people who are true freaks in bed.” Added Clarke. Everyone turned to look at her. She widened her eyes and looked around the table. “What?! It’s just what I heard!”  
      “What kind of sex stories do you have Clarke?” Jasper waggled his eyebrows at her.  
      “Shut up, Jas! You should not be talking right now.”  
      “Well, I think it’s time for some alcohol!” Monty stood up and headed to the kitchen. He brought out three large pints of golden colors liquor. We had decided on the name Moonshine.  
      “Wait, before everyone drinks. I kind of have an announcement!” Maya interrupted Monty’s distribution. He smacked his forehead in a gesture that made it obvious he forgot about whatever she was going to say.  
      “Since we are all on vacation, we wanted to rent out a cabin out by Mt. Weather. It’s right near the lake. I found this brochure.” She took out a pamphlet and laid it in front of the three girls. “Its remote, so it’ll be only us, but a thirty minute drive will lead us to a small city, so we won’t be totally on our own. There’s a store where we can rent out stuff for the water, like jet skis, canoes, stuff like that. It would seriously be fun!”  
      Octavia squealed next to Clarke. “Oh my god, look how pretty it is! I am in! For how long can we stay there? And when would we go?” Clarke grabbed the pamphlet from her hands, looking down at the pictures. She had to admit, it really did look peaceful. She could almost picture herself sitting outside, drawing the natural beauty into her sketchbook. Clarke passed the pamphlet to Raven, turning back to hear the responses to Octavia’s question.  
      “We would leave in a month. That way we can all have time to put in a notice at work. And we can choose how long we want to stay. But we’d have to choose right now, to reserve the cabin.” Jasper answered.  
      “How much would all this cost?” Clarke asked. Monty and Jasper exchanged a glance between each other. Before they could answer, the doorbell rang.  
      “I’ll get it!” Monty jumped up and went to open the door.  
      “Are we really going to do this?” Raven looked over at Clarke, her eyebrows raised.  
      “I think it could be fun. Don’t you?”  
      “I’m not sure. I’m not exactly an outdoor kind of girl. But what is the point of me staying behind if everyone I know is down at that damn lake?” Clarke scoffed, bumping shoulders with her friend.  
      “Why don’t you invite Wick? I am sure Prince Charming will make you forget about the outdoors.” Raven shrugged, a smile beginning to form. Clarke knew she was in. The idea of her boyfriend joining seemed to lessen her hesitation. Footsteps sounded from outside the living room. Monty was back, leading in a tall man.  
      Octavia yelled loudly, making everyone jump slightly. The brunette sprang up and rammed into Bellamy with enough force to cause him to step back a few times. That didn’t stop him from wrapping his muscular arms around his sister, sweeping her into a tight hug. Clarke smiled at their reunion, even though her stomach twisted in annoyance. The few times she met her best friend’s brother, she was thoroughly reminded of his dislike towards her.

 

      “Oh my god, Bell! Why didn’t you tell me you were back in town?” Octavia leaned away from her brother’s grip to look at his face, but she didn’t step out of his embrace.  
      “Well, I wasn’t sure I was going to come down or not. I didn’t want to tell you until I knew for sure. I just got the okay yesterday.” Bellamy broke away from his sister and held her at arm’s length. “Shit, you’re big now.” Then his eyes narrowed. “Why are you wearing that? You can see everything.” His voice was gruff with disapproval. Octavia grinned and rolled her eyes.  
      “You got the okay for what?”  
      “I’m transferring over. My company built a new branch here. I requested to get placed in the new branch so I could be closer to home.” He looked down in sudden embarrassment. Everyone at the table was staring at the siblings still.  
      Monty cleared his throat and turned to Maya. “Can we get back to drinking now?”  
At everyone’s cheers, shot glasses were passed around. Clarke scooted closer to Raven and Maya moved closer to Jasper. They both opened up a new spot so the Blake siblings could sit together. Octavia gave her a grateful smile and grabbed Bellamy’s hand, leading him down to the floor.  
      “Come on big brother. You’re drinking with me tonight.” Bellamy smiled, his eyes crinkling in the corners the way Octavia’s did. He didn’t object, sitting down besides Clarke.  
      “Hey Princess.” Clarke rolled her eyes, and the entire table groaned.  
      “Oh god Bellamy.” She reached in front of her, grabbing the full shot glass. “This is a happy moment. Do not be a jack ass.” She raised the glass up in the air. “Just be happy.”  
      Everyone around her lifted their glasses. Bellamy hesitated, but looking over at a beaming Octavia, he sighed and lifted his glass as well.  
      “Happy.” He agreed. They all tilted back their heads and downed the shot in one gulp. The liquid made its way down her throat, a burning sensation that warmed her insides.

     Three hours later, everyone was slurring, but still going. It had been Clarke’s idea to play drunk jenga.  
      “Holy shit, I cannot take this one out. There are no more left!” Maya whined. Jasper leaned around her, poking at the tower of blocks, looking for a loose one. Maya swatted his hand away before Octavia could swoop down on them. “No cheating, mister.” She still reached to pull out a block that jasper had managed to loosen. “It says, ‘never have I ever.’” Maya frowned, looking up at them. “What’s that?”  
      “It means we have to say something we’ve never done. If someone in the circle has done it, they have to take a sip of their drink. If they haven’t, they don’t drink.” Monty explained.  
      Maya nodded and sat up straighter to think of something to say. “Never have I ever,” she began “had sex with a girl.” She smiled down at Jasper, who grinned and took a sip. Bellamy and Monty took a sip, and much to everyone’s surprise, so did Clarke and Raven.  
      “What?” Bellamy rounded on the two of them. Raven grinned lazily. Clarke shrugged.  
      “What?” she retorted.  
      “I remember your lesbian phase!” Octavia called out, shoving Bellamy back so she could look at Clarke. “What was her name? Uh—“she tapped her forehead lightly.  
      “Lexa.” Jasper answered. Clarke groaned and rolled her head back.  
      “It was not a lesbian phase. I genuinely liked the girl. Weird.” Clarke took another sip while Octavia, Jasper and Monty laughed at her expense. “You’re turn.” She pointed at Jasper.  
      “Never have I ever failed a class.” At this, no one took a sip. “Ahh, I am surrounded by intelligent college students. I am glad. I am definite glad.” He beamed at them all in turn. “Your turn Mont.”  
      “Never have I ever been arrested.” Jasper gasped exaggeratedly at him, taking a sip. As well as Bellamy and Clarke. “Seriously Clarke? You too?” Again, Clarke merely shrugged her shoulders. Bellamy scoffed softly next to her.  
      “I’m sure Princess spent the night in PD then got discharged in the morning with nothing more than a slap on the wrist. That doesn’t count.”  
      Glaring up at his smug face, Clarke corrected him. “Actually, Princess had no bail money. So I sat in county for a month before having a court hearing. I was released after that but I had to do a year of community service. Your turn Raven.” She looked over at her friend, not allowing Bellamy to comment on her admission.  
      The game continued on until well into the night. By the time Clarke checked her phone, it was already five in the morning. She looked around her at all the unconscious forms laying in the living room. Monty was leaning on the table, his face inches away from the moonshine pint, snoring slightly. Octavia was curled on the couch with her head resting on Bellamy’s legs. Jasper and Maya were leaning against the couch. Clarke was almost sure they were asleep. Raven was crawling out of the restroom.  
      “Oh god, the world won’t stop moving.” She complained. Clarke giggled and crawled to meet raven half way. Both girls collapsed in each other’s arms. They lay on their back, looking up at the ceiling.  
      “Why did you get arrested, Clarke?” Raven whispered to her. Clarke turned her head to look at Raven’s face. Her friend had her eyes closed and she was breathing deeply through her nose. She knew it was to try and not throw up.  
      “I was sixteen.” Clarke began, turning her head to look at the ceiling again. “I needed to sleep. So I snuck into an empty house. It was one of those houses they left open so you could walk in and check it out. For some reason it was always open, even at night. I didn’t have anywhere else to go, so I stayed there for a week. I think a neighbor saw me, because a cop randomly showed up while I was asleep. I got arrested for trespassing and breaking and entering. Even though I technically didn’t break in.” Clarke shrugged. She lifted her arms over her head, holding them up to examine them. She was so drunk, even her hands looked hazy.  
      “Why didn’t anyone bail you out?” Clarke squeaked in surprise, dropping her hands quickly. It wasn’t Raven who had asked that question. One look at Raven and it was obvious she had passed out. Clarke propped herself up on her elbows, blinking rapidly to try and make the three Bellamy’s merge into one. He was sitting up, running his hand through Octavia’s hair but his gaze was fixed on Clarke. When she met his eyes, the room stopped swaying and there was only one Bellamy. “Why did you stay so long in there?” Bellamy asked her again, his voice quiet.  
      Maybe it was because she was drunk, or because of how sincere Bellamy looked at that moment, but she opened her mouth and gave him her truth. “I had no one.” Her voice came out sadder than she had meant it to. She noted the look of surprise that flashed across his face. His mouth popped open slightly and his eyebrows furrowed.  
      “Family?” he asked, trying to break the silence.  
      Clarke laughed at that. She dropped back down on the floor, facing the ceiling again. Thankfully, at that moment Maya’s head drooped off of Jasper’s shoulder. She jerked awake, looking around frantically before realizing where she was.  
      “Babe, come on.” She nudged Jasper. “Let’s get everyone to bed.” Maya looked over at Clarke, smiling softly. Clarke smiled back and sat up. “How are you still awake?” Maya shook her head at Clarke in awe. “You drank way more than me. And I need to—“she broke off at that moment, turning slightly green. Maya jumped up quickly then stumbled her way to the restroom. Jasper still hadn’t woken up.  
      “Get Jasper, will you?” Clarke didn’t stop to see if Bellamy listened to her before she made her way to the back of the apartment to help Maya. The restroom was at the end of the hallway and she could just make out the slumped form hunched over the toilet. Flipping on the lights, Clarke held Maya’s hair out of the way. When the girl finished spilling her guts out, Clarke helped her up. She left Maya to brush her teeth and went to get her some water and an aspirin.  
      By this time, Octavia and Jasper were both sitting up, blinking blearily. Bellamy must have had to move Octavia to get to Jasper, thought Clarke.  
      “Your girlfriend is dying in the back.” Clarke reminded Jasper. He groaned and tried standing up but failed. She reached down and grabbed his hand, trying to yank him up. But the boy weighed a ton. “God Jas. You are skinny. How the hell are you this fucking heavy?” tugging on his hand once more, jasper finally managed to right himself. Only to sway in her direction. Before she could step out of his way or right them both, Clarke felt herself fall under Jasper's body. Two arms shot out and grasped Jasper's shoulders firmly, easing his weight away from her. Clarke stepped back, right into Bellamy. His chest was against her back, his arms on either side of her face. She looked up at him, holding her breath. He gazed down at her, smirking slightly. Clarke shivered, but quickly stepped under his arm and went around to help Jasper.  
      “Oh shit. Sorry Clarke. I am so fucking dizzy.” Jasper shook his head lightly. “Where’s Maya?”  
      “In the restroom. Here, a cup of water and aspirins. Both of you should take some. Need help getting her to bed?”  
      “No, I got her. Maybe you can get Monty though. I think he is getting too friendly with that bottle.” Clarke looked over at Monty, who had snaked one arm around the Moonshine and was using it as a prop for his head. She couldn’t hold in a snort. Before she helped him, she took out her phone and took a picture.  
      “That is just mean, Clarke.” Octavia muttered. “Send it to me.”

     After helping Monty into his own room, Octavia and Clarke debated on whether they should crash in the living room or try and trudge up the two floors to their own room.  
      “I am just so tired. I don’t care where we sleep.” Octavia muttered, curling up again on the couch. She yawned and closed her eyes, asleep in an instant.  
      “I hate how she can just sleep at will.” Clarke stated out loud. Bellamy chuckled at that. He was sitting on the couch opposite of Octavia, next to the sleeping figure of Raven.  
      “Yeah, she always had that habit. Which was a blessing to me, since putting her to bed was my responsibility.” Bellamy gave Octavia a warm look, his full lips puckered up in a small grin. Clarke noticed how at ease he was with anything regarding his sister. Though he was a douche to the rest of the world, his heart shone through his chest when he spoke to or about his baby sister.  
      Shaking her head, she turned away from Bellamy. She had to stop ogling him before he thought she was a creep. Clarke splayed out on the floor near the couch. Reaching up, she took a pillow off of the couch and placed it under her head. The last thing she heard before knocking out was Bellamy’s voice grumbling out something she couldn’t catch.


	2. Big Brother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bellamy and Octavia reconnect Blake style.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bell and O are supposed to be this dynamic sibling duo. I really wanted to work on their bond in this chapter. I mean, how else would the Blakes spend their first night together? Eating and talking of course. So here is some brother and sister love.

     Looking around him, Bellamy had to hold back a laugh. These lightweights, he thought. Octavia was snoring loudly. He went to her first and rolled her to her side, knowing that was how to get her snores to end. Then he went into the hallway where he knew there was a small closet. Opening the closet, he brought out the spare blankets and pillows that were always there.

     He covered Octavia and Raven each in a quilt. Then he turned to the blonde mess on the floor. Scoffing, he wondered if she thought he was the type of person to let a woman take the floor while he took the couch. Shaking his head, he leaned down. He placed one arm under her knees and the other arm went to cradle her head. He lifted her up, frowning at how light she weighed, then placed her on the long couch where Raven laid and put a blanket over her.

     She shifted slightly, her hand sneaking out and grabbing Bellamy by the wrist. One look at her face assured him she was still fast asleep. He crouched down beside her and looked at her closer. Her blonde bun was falling apart, tendrils of hair freed and splayed around her face. Bellamy gently moved a strand away from her mouth and tucked it behind her ear.

     Bellamy had to admit he had been shocked when she had talked about her past. He never actually hung out with her before this, but he always assumed she was an uppity money child. She never seemed to worry about rent the way the others did. Nor financial aid for school. Bellamy never asked Octavia about her, not really caring. But tonight, she looked at him in actual anger at his comments about her jail time.

     ‘I had no one.’ There had been so much emotion in the back of that statement, it almost made Bellamy want to reach over and hug her. And the way she had laughed at his question regarding her family. It was a bitter laugh. He recognized that laugh, since his matched it.

     Shaking his head at the mystery of his sisters best friend, he reached down and tried to remove her grasp from his wrist. As he pried her fingers off, she frowned in her sleep and held on tighter. Bellamy stopped and watched as she replaced her fingers around him. Sighing, he sat next to the couch. He needed to sleep somewhere anyway. He placed his head on the pillow Clarke had originally claimed, and covered up with the blanket he had gotten for himself.

     Feeling uncomfortable with the angle his hand was in, he shifted it around. Clarkes frown deepened and she began to stir, but Bellamy quickly grabbed her hand again, this time entwining his fingers with hers. She huffed out a small breath and her frown faded back into sleep. Bellamy knew she was just drunk and she didn’t realize what she was doing, but he leaned back with a small smile on his face. He quickly knocked out as well.

     It was Octavia’s gasp that woke him up. Bellamy was usually a heavy sleeper, but he was so in tune with his sister that any noise she made would instantly wake up. He sat up quickly and looked over at Octavia, who had her phone out.

     “What the hell, O?”

     “What the hell, yourself, big brother?” Octavia whispered, gesturing at his hand. Bellamy felt his face get hot, knowing what she was referring to without needed to follow her gaze. He turned and pried Clarke's fingers away slowly from his. This time, she didn’t move. Octavia held her phone up again, Bellamy realizing too late that she was taking a picture.

     “Oh. Shit, seriously O? Quit your shit.” He grumbled, standing up quickly. Octavia smirked, but stowed away her phone.

     “It’s more to hang over Clarkes head than yours. Don’t worry.” Bellamy scoffed at that, shaking his head.

     “Girls are vindictive.”

    

     He left Octavia in the apartment, promising to come back that evening for dinner at her place. Bellamy needed to get in touch with Miller and Murphy. Now that he was back in town, he needed a place. The last time he had spoken to Miller, he learned they had a spare room available. Bellamy could get his own place, but if he were being honest with himself, roommates would save him some money.

     After sending a text to Miller for directions, Bellamy made his way down to the garage to get his truck. Once he was in the cab of his truck, Miller texted back with an address. It wasn’t far from here. GPS said it was only a ten minute drive.

     He pulled up to the apartment complex. It was small and squared, sitting in between a bar and a bookstore. Bellamy saw the contrast between neighboring businesses, but he liked the idea of both being close to him. The apartment was on the fourth floor. This building actually had an elevator. When it deposited him on the floor, he turned left and looked for apartment 412. Miller opened the door not even five seconds after he knocked, pulling Bellamy into a tight one-armed hug.

     “Holy shit man. It’s been a long time.”

     “Yes it has.” Bellamy stepped back to look at Miller. Both men were eye level, with the same broad shoulders. Millers skin was a darker shade than his, stretched smoothly over defined muscle. His usually kept short hair was a bit longer than it was the last time they had met.

     “You here to pay my rent or what?” Miller joked, stepping out of the way to let Bellamy into the apartment.

     “I have to see if the place is up to standard first.” Bellamy gazed around at the apartment. The living room was directly in front of him. Red couches lined two walls, a large flat screen hung on the third wall, and the last held a large glass sliding door that led out to a balcony.

     “Your room would be over here, man.” Miller led Bellamy to the left into a narrow hallway. “Kitchen is back here.” He gestured to a small kitchen to his right. “The table is there. This door is Murphy’s room. That’s the restroom. And this is yours.” They stopped in front of the last door. Miller backed up and gave Bellamy his space. “Room is yours if you want it. We can talk rent and shit later when you’ve settled. Everything in the fridge is fair game, take what you want.” Bellamy nodded his thanks, a surge of gratefulness washing over him for his friend caused him to keep his mouth shut.

     He turned and opened the door, surveying the room. It wasn’t bad. The door leading to a closet sat on his right. A large bed was pushed against the wall to the left. Right across from him were two long windows. They were covered with dark brown curtains. Peeking through the curtains, Bellamy could see the entire block. He stepped back satisfied.

     A few trips down to his truck and he was fully settled and unpacked. He knew he was going to have to go to the store soon and buy whatever it was that he needed, but right now he was nursing a hangover and he was lacking sleep. After talking to Miller about payments, he paid his first month and lumbered away to get some sleep.

     Finally lying in bed, he took out his phone. He had a few notifications from Facebook. Octavia made him download all these social apps so they could keep in touch. Bellamy hardly used them for himself, solely to see what his sister was up to. His Facebook showed a few new friend requests from; Monty Greene, Jasper Jordan, Raven Reyes, and Maya. Rolling his eyes, he accepted all of them. He didn’t post anything, so he didn’t have a problem with having them there.

     Having added them, they now showed up on his newsfeed. Groaning, he looked at all the photos they had posted of last night. His phone pinged, showing a new notification. Jasper Jordan was requesting to tag him in a few photos. Bellamy checked which they were. There were three. In one, Maya was screwing her face up in concentration as she tried to wiggle out a block. You could just make out Bellamy in the background. That one wasn’t too bad. He accepted that.

     The second photo was of Octavia and Bellamy. They were sitting side by side, both of their heads thrown back as they swallowed a large shot of Moonshine. Both of their eyes were peeking at the other, trying to be the first to finish. Clarke sat next to him, the grin she threw at them was wide. Bellamy smiled at that photo, allowing himself to be tagged.

     The last photo was of Monty, Jasper and himself sitting on the couch. Bellamy recalled the guys sitting on the couch as the girls stood in front of them. One of the blocks in drunk jenga instructed the girls to play charades, which they sucked at. When they hadn’t been looking, one of the girls, most likely Raven judging from the photos angle, took a picture. This one genuinely made him laugh. The three of them were looking up at whoever was next in charades. Their expressions were confused, eyebrows scrunched in as they tried to figure out what they were seeing.

     He accepted that one as well, then closed the app. He had one message from Octavia. 'Text me whenever you get home. I want to make sure you don’t die behind the wheel. And send me your address. Your place needs my approval first. Love you big brother.'

     Attached to the message was a photo. He knew what it was before he opened it, but he opened it anyway. The photo of him and Clarke. Their hands were intertwined. The only way you could differentiate their fingers was because of the contrast of their skin color. Bellamy had turned towards Clarke sometime while he had been asleep. Clarke was leaning slightly over the edge of the couch cushion. Their heads had been closer to each other than he had assumed. He had jumped up when Octavia woke him up, so he didn’t see their position. He closed the photo, shaking his head slightly. Firing off the text to Octavia with his address, he turned off the phone completely. Rolling over, he tried to get the sadness of the blue eyed girl out of his head.

     Bellamy woke up to a flurry that was his sister.

     “Wake up, Bell!” Octavia threw his curtains apart. Which didn’t do much to the room, since the light outside was fading. The sky was already turning a different shade of blue.

     “What time is it?” he grumbled, not getting up but rubbing his eyes.

     “It’s already seven. Murphy says you’ve been asleep since the morning.”

     “Murphy is here?”

     “Yeah, he was in the living room when I came in. Told me I was being annoying already.” Octavia stuck out her middle finger in the direction of where Bellamy assumed Murphy was at. He chuckled but didn’t comment. “Come on. You said we would have dinner. I want to show you my favorite restaurant. I ditched the gang. It’s just you and me tonight.”

     “Sounds great, O. Let me just get dressed.” He smiled fondly at his little sister. “Awesome.” She clapped her hands together, hopping on the bed with him. “Wait. You need to shower first.” She reached over and tugged at a curl stuck to his forehead. “You smell like Moonshine.”

 

     Two hours later, Bellamy found himself outside of a small diner with Octavia. He was freshly washed, wearing his regular jeans, a dark blue tee-shirt and a blazer. Looking down, he frowned. He was too dressed for the diner they were at. It was tiny, everything crammed together. Booths to the right side and a long counter to the left with stools lining around the edges.

     “Come on. Our table is over here.” She grabbed his hand, leading him to the last booth at the far end of the diner.

     “Our table?” he raised his eyebrows at her, sliding in to the seat in front of her.

     “Well yeah. This place serves the best burgers. And the coffee is to die for. Plus it’s always opened. So whenever we need to pull an all-nighter for school, we all come here. And this is our booth.” Bellamy saw his sisters face soften at the mention of her friends.

     “Hey, Doll.” A waitress comes over and smiles at Octavia. “You on a date? What happened to Lincoln?” She is staring at Bellamy with wide eyes before realizing something. “Oh god, that was so rude. I am so sorry. Ah damn. My mother always did say I had a mouth the size of the moon.”

     “Hey, Harper. It’s okay. I’m sort of on a date. This is my brother, Bellamy. Bell, this is my favorite server, Harper.” Bellamy ducks his head at her. Harper flushed and bit her lip, fluttering her eyelashes at him.

     “Well, sorry for making that awkward. Imagine if this had been a date?” Harper giggled. “Anyway, you want the usual?”

     “Yes, and make it two of everything.” Harper nods at her and, after throwing Bellamy a wink, ambles away to the back of the diner.

    “So.” Bellamy puts down the unneeded menu. “Lincoln, huh?” Octavia turns a soft shade of pink, looking down at her now clenched fingers. “Who is Lincoln?”

     “Err.” It seems like she wants to stall, but Bellamy is a patient man, and he sits in front of her in silence as she fidgets. He wanted to smile, but he kept his face impassive. It’s every older brother’s dream to have his little sister stay little for as long as possible. And to remain little involved no dating. But Bellamy knew his sister had an internal habit of surrounding herself with trustworthy people. She was twenty-two already. He trusted her intuition. Still, it was fun to see her embarrassment.

     “I wanted to tell you. But the whole fiasco with my last boyfriend made me hesitant.” Bellamy barked out a laugh at the memory. “Stop laughing. Atom still flinches when he looks at me. I had him in my Physics class two semesters ago.”

     “Sorry about that. But for the record, you were only sixteen when you two dated.” He held up his hands before she could protest. “I am sorry about it. Honest. I won’t throw a bitch fit this time. Tell me about him.”

     Octavia gave him a weird look. “Why are you so different?” “Different?” “Yeah. You were nice to Clarke. You took up Miller for his offer. And now.” She waved her arm at him, indicating the scene they were just in. “You’re chill with me dating. What gives, Bell?”

     Before he could respond, Harper comes in, carrying a large tray. “Damn, O. How much do you eat?” In front of him sat a large burger, fries, and an extra side of fries, onion rings, mozzarella sticks and a small bowl of pickles on their own. Octavia shrugged at him, already eating her fries.

     “We come here to study. Food is mandatory.” She stated simply. “Plus I always eat like a pig. You know this.” Which was true, Bellamy agreed. Growing up, they were notorious for binge eating late at night while their mother wasn’t home.

     “Nothing happened.” Bellamy paused, picking up the topic they had been on before he dug into his food. “Nothing major happened. It’s just being away from home, you know? It really threw off my perspective on life. And look at you. You’ve managed to maintain your life so well. You seem happy.” He stared down at his plate. “I feel proud, I guess.”

     Octavia sat up suddenly, running around the table to sit directly beside Bellamy. She threw her arms around his shoulders. “I am happy. And I have managed to figure all my shit out. But it was all because of you. I may have my life in order, but none of this would be happening if you hadn’t done everything you did for me.” She pecked his cheek. “I love you, big brother. And I am so glad you’re home.”

     They ate their fill in the greasy, but delicious food. Octavia told him all about her wonderful boyfriend. Bellamy was thrown off when she told him Lincoln was his age, which was twenty-seven, but she shrugged that off.

     “Age really doesn’t matter. Plus, he is better than the guys my age. All they think about is sex and booze and too many women.” She wrinkled her nose and he let it slide. “Did we tell you? Oh man, Bell. I should have told you last night! We are taking a summer trip up to Mount Weather.” Bellamy returned his gaze to his now empty plate while Octavia continued to gush. “The pictures of the place look amazing. And the town next to it is small and cute. Kind of like the town we always talked about moving to when we were kids.” She smiled fondly at Bellamy, who kept his eyes down casted. “You have to come with us. Think you could get a few days off of work? Is it too soon to ask for days off? What is wrong Bellamy?” she finally noticed his evasive posture.

     “Well. I kind of already knew about the cabin.”

     Octavia gasped. Something clicked. She remembered the way Jasper and Monty acted when Clarke asked about the price. She looked over at her brother in amazement. “Are you fucking kidding me? Bellamy Blake. Tell me you did not rent the cabin for me.” When he didn’t respond, she groaned. “Oh my god. You did. That is so—amazing. But over the top. I cannot accept this.”

     “Don’t act like that, O. Would you feel better if I said I was going too? And the cabin wasn’t that expensive. My boss owns it. He rents it out. I saw the brochure in his office and talked to him about it a while back. I paid it off in monthly installments so it didn’t hit my budget at all. I wanted your friends to surprise you with it. I didn’t know if I would be down here in time.”

     Octavia’s face softened as he explained himself. So long as it wasn’t affecting her brother negatively, she would be okay with anything. “And you’re going with us?” she double-checked.

    “Yes.” He confirmed. “I rented it out for two weeks. We don’t have to stay the whole time, but it’ll be there. I was thinking of inviting Miller and Murphy. As a way of thanking them for taking me in so suddenly. Because of them, I didn’t have to go furniture shopping.”

     “Oh shit, Bell. You are officially a badass.” Octavia grinned at her brother. “And those two weeks are going to be fucking awesome!” Her grin was contagious, spreading across his own face.

     “That’s the plan.”

     They finished catching up at the diner, finally exiting the small building with full stomachs. Night time had arrived, the sky was pitch black. All the street lights turned on. They walked around to the small parking lot in the side of the diner, heading towards Bellamy’s old truck.

     “When are you ever going to replace this heap of metal?” Octavia said, but she smiled softly at it, patting the bed of the truck gently.

     “Please, this baby will never leave my side. It is honestly my ride or die.” She scoffed at that.

     “Yeah, I can seriously see that happening. So where to next?” Bellamy had just slid into the driver’s seat. Turning to face Octavia, he saw she was already gazing at him expectantly. He hadn’t planned anything for tonight. Racking his brain for something fun to do, Octavia laughed. “God, you suck at being spontaneous. You can plan a whole vacation getaway in a cinch but a night out is beyond you. You are such a guy.”

     “Hey, it’s not my fault you made me drink with you. I could have planned something out during the day but instead I had to sleep off a hangover.” “I didn’t hear you complaining when you were holding Clarkes hand.”

     He could feel his cheeks warm up a bit, but he cleared his throat and pulled up his poker face. “I was drunk, O. I don’t even remember her grabbing my hand.”

     “Oh, but you remember that she was the one who made the first move?” Her laughter rang out in the small cab. Bellamy stayed silent after that. “Come on. I’ll show you my place. You haven’t been there in over a year. We changed apartments six months back. The first one we got had this huge burst pipe and the carpets got soaked with—ugh. I don’t even want to remember. We managed to move though. And it’s sort of bigger.”

     Bellamy nodded, content with simply listening to his sister ramble on about her life. The drive back didn’t take long. He saw her apartment building looming in front of them in no time, and turned into the visitor parking.

     Octavia kept up her chattering as they trudged up five flights of stairs. She led him to Apartment 524 and paused dramatically in front of the door before sweeping it open for him. He rolled his eyes at her theatrics, stepping around her into the small hallway. There was a table along the wall with a miniature lamp in the shape of an owl. Octavia threw her keys onto the table and led him into the living room right outside of the hallway. It looked like only girls lived here. A huge beige sofa sat in the middle of the living room. It was in the shape of a large U, turned to face a TV, which sat in the middle of an entertainment center.

     If you could call it that. Around the TV were bookshelves, each shelve crammed with books. The shelves took up almost the entire wall. And it looked like they had run out of space, piles of books were stacked around the entire apartment. Even in the small kitchen that was behind him. A bar separated the living room and kitchen. A fish tank occupied a corner.

     “Hey, those are the fish I got you. They’re still alive?”

     “Yep.” Octavia made a popping sound at the last letter. “Binky and Dory.” He frowned at the fruity names but didn’t say anything. “Down that hall is Raven’s room. The guest restroom is right there. And this is my room.” She grabbed Bellamy by the hand and yanked him through her bedroom door. He stepped in, looking around at all the things she had.

    “God you are a hoarder.” He was only half joking, wincing slightly at the punch she threw at him. Her walls were lined up with posters of various images. She had a desk in one corner, which was stacked with papers, spirals and a laptop. Turning around, he noted how Octavia stayed hovering at her door. “What?” he asked her self-consciously. He realized she had been watching him as he inspected her room.

     She shrugged. “I am just really glad you’re home.” He walked over to her and gave her a one-armed hug.

     “Same here, O.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am kind of floating on my euphoric day. I got an awesome grade on an exam I had been stressing about and NO HOMEWORK for easter break. Which means I get to work on more chapters. Oh, and today is my son's birthday. I get to celebrate it with him by being lazy at home together. Which we never get to do. So hurray! Anyway. New chapter coming up. Stay tuned! (:
> 
> Another added note:I am going back and rereading this chapter. In my haste, I skimmed over my edit, and there are a few mistakes I left behind. If you read this before I edit, please forgive me. I am not always this illiterate. Promise!


	3. Hot Chocolate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A cup of rainbows and unicorns. 
> 
> Yes, really.

     Bellamy Blake was always in her house. She was glad Octavia had her brother back. But come on. This was almost getting ridiculous.

     Clarke came home from work earlier than she had planned. Everyone was picking up more shifts at the bar to be able to pay bills and still have money left over for their trip. She had worked thirteen hours straight and her boss took pity on her, sending her home. Her feet hurt and she was ready for a shower and bed. Yawning, she went into her room and began to undress. Her bartender uniform always smelling like alcohol and cigarette smoke. It made her head hurt.

     Turning on her radio, she put on her music. Octavia and Raven had come in for their shift at six, so Clarke was positive her music wouldn’t disturb anyone. She hummed along to the song and walked over to her restroom. Then she screamed.

     “Fuck Princess, can you shut the fuck up!” Bellamy exclaimed. Bellamy Blake in her shower. Bellamy Blake naked, scurrying to wrap a towel around himself. Bellamy fucking Blake.

     “Fucking Octavia.” Clarke muttered before stepping out of the restroom, shutting the door behind her with a loud slam. Throwing herself onto her bed, she realized a beat later she had been in her underwear. Groaning, she smacked her palm against her forehead. Of course. She got up and grabbed a large tee-shirt from her top drawer and put it on.

     Then she grabbed her phone and sent Octavia a text. _‘I accidentally body slammed your brothers naked body with my naked body. BOUNDARIES, TAVIA.’_ Throwing herself back unto her bed, she glared up at her ceiling.

     A soft but insistent knock came from the restroom door. Sighing, she called him in. He was wearing black basketball shorts and a grey tee-shirt. His hair was still dripping.

     “Hey. So. Sorry.” Bellamy mumbled.

     “So monotonous.” Clarke mumbled back at him.

     He frowned at her, finally meeting her eyes. “Sorry about that, Princess. Octavia said no one would be here at this time.”

     “Stop calling me Princess, Blake. Its rude.” She snapped at him. “But it’s my fault. I wasn’t paying attention when I got home. I usually hear the shower running.” Clarke ran her hand over her face, closing her eyes.

     “Bad day?”

     Clarke peeked through her fingers to see Bellamy awkwardly standing at the doorway.

     She sniffled, then sat up. “Not really. Just a long day at work. I’m just tired. We’re all picking up shifts so we won’t go bankrupt this summer.”

     Bellamy scoffed at that. “Yeah, O told me. She said you were pulling a double today. That’s why I could use her shower.” He gestured behind him, dropping his gaze Clarke frowned.

     “Why are you here?”

     Bellamy bristled at her rude tone, but kept his voice steady. “Miller’s dad is in town for the next two days. I offered him my room, since it was originally the guest room.” He shrugged. “I actually stayed here last night also, but no one was here.” Clarke and Octavia had been at work and Raven spent the night at Wick’s, she recalled.

     “Oh, well that was—nice of you.”

     “Why the tone of surprise?” Bellamy shifted his weight, the corner of his lips pulled down in a small pucker.

     Clarke shrugged at him, not commenting.

     “Well, the restroom is free. Sorry, again.” He turned around and headed through the door.

     Before Clarke realized what she was doing, she had stood up quickly and followed him. “Bellamy?” he was already in Octavia’s room, but he turned around slowly to look at her.

     “Thank you.” She said.

     “For?”

     “For giving up your spot on the couch.” His face softened slightly. Before he could say anything, Clarke closed the door, smiling to herself. With the door closed, she turned to look at herself in the mirror. Then she froze. The expression on her face was gross. Her cheeks were pink, her eyes sparkling and there was a stupid grin on her face. Clarke shook her head hard, reminding herself to get a grip. They barely spoke a few words to each other. She was being ridiculous.

     Standing under the hot water, she was able to relax a bit. The steam rose up around her and she felt her muscles loosen up. She realized she was being unfair to the Blake siblings. If she hadn’t seen her brother in almost a year, she’d want him around often. Plus, she was rarely home so it wasn’t like he was physically bothering her. Silently, she decided to stop complaining to Octavia.

     Dried and dressed in flannel pjs, Clarke make her way to the kitchen. She wasn’t really hungry, but she hadn’t eaten all day so she figured nibbling on something would suffice. Crossing the living room and entering, Clarke stops short. Bellamy is standing in front of the stove, of course. His tall frame filling up the tiny kitchen.

     “Sit.” He doesn’t look up from the pan. Clarke just noticed he was stirring something in a pot.

     “I’m not a dog, Bellamy.” He looked up at her then, a smirk flitting across his face.

     “Sit please, Princess.”

     “Why are you always so rude?” Clarke huffed, rounding on her heel. She began to walk off, but Bellamy placed a hand on her shoulder, halting her. She glared up at his face. His smirk was gone, replaced with a tight polite smile.

     “Sorry, old habit. I’ll be nice.” He lifted his hand from her, stepping back in a surrender pose. Clarke shook her head, frowning slightly. She backed away slowly from Bellamy and walked over to the bar, sitting on one of the tall stools. Bellamy smiled at her hesitation, then turned back around to the stove.

     “So, what are you making?”

     “Hot chocolate.”

     “You’re making it on the stove?” she crinkled her nose. Bellamy whirled around to look at her, confusion tugging his eyebrows down into a scowl.

     “How else would you make hot chocolate?”

     “I don’t know.” Clarke shrugged her shoulders. “Microwave? Or with that machine that dispenses hot water and you just mix the hot chocolate powder in—why are you looking at me like that?!” the expression on Bellamy’s face was becoming more horrified as her words continued.

     “What kind of chocolate have you had? Never mind.” He waved off her protests. “Don’t answer that. I don’t want to know. This is the real deal. Heaven in a cup, some might even say.” He grinned cockily.

     “Well, what’s it made of? Rainbows and unicorns?” she shot sarcastically at him.

     Snorting, he replied. “Of course you’d think of those ingredients, Princess. Nah, this is an old family recipe. You warm up real milk, whole. Not the weird 2%. You add honey and cinnamon as it boils. Then you add these chocolate bars, and mix as it melts.”

     His back had been facing her as he told her the recipe. Now, he turns and draws out two mugs, setting them down on the counter in front of her. Grabbing the handle of the pot, he poured the steaming brown liquid into both mugs. He slid her one gently.

     “When Octavia was small, she’d beg me to make her this all the time. Because she wasn’t tall enough to reach the stove.” Bellamy reminisced. “Don’t tell her I made you this. She’d whoop my ass if she found out I didn’t make it for her first.”

     Clarke laughed at that, nodding in agreement. “She is a force to be reckoned with. I don’t know if I can help you go up against that.” Bellamy tried to maintain his stern gaze, but a smile kept threatening to break out.

     “Shut up and mix your hot chocolate. That helps cool it down.”

     She mimicked his stern face. “Yes sir, Blake.”

     They stayed in a small silence after that. Clarke kept mixing her hot chocolate, steam still rising from her cup. When Bellamy turned to put the pot in the sink, she snuck a glance at his face. He seemed at ease. Not angry, nor frustrated. The last time she had seen him, Bellamy had been a ball of pent up anger. She could feel herself waiting for the old Bellamy to pop out his rude head and become the Jackass she had first met, but he genuinely seemed more—peaceful. Hmm, whatever life changes he was going through, Clarke thought he was more likeable this way. Bellamy turned just in time to catch her smiling at him over the lip of her mug.

     “Why are you smiling like that? I feel like you’re going to hurt me.” He took a mocking step back. Clarke rolled her eyes at him.

     “Shut up, Bellamy. This is just a really good cup of hot chocolate.” Yeah, sure. Blame the chocolate, she thought to herself. But he seemed to buy it, smirking down at his own cup.

     “Who taught you the recipe?” she asked him.

     “My mom.” He said softly. “She made this a lot when I was a kid. I never asked her where she got the recipe from.” His voice was full of regret and sadness.

     “It’s good that you learned it then.” Clarke said simply. Bellamy’s eyes darted up to look at her, but she kept her gaze focused on the counter. “It means you kept a piece of her alive, you know? Her recipe survived.” She still didn’t meet Bellamy’s gaze, taking a sip of the chocolate.

     It really was good. Rich with spices, sweet with chocolate. Clarke had to stop herself from moaning. It was an addicting taste.

     “Oh, there really are unicorns and rainbows in this.” The serious moment was broken and Bellamy threw his head back and laughed, his eyes crinkling in the corners. She decided she liked Bellamy Blake’s smile.

 

 

     “So what is your preference? Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings?”

     “Definitely Harry Potter.”

     “What? That is insane, Princess. You cannot mean that.” Bellamy grimaced at her. “You can really sit there and tell me some boy with a wand is better than the world created in the Middle Earth?”

     Clarke giggled (mentally groaning because she was not the type of girl to giggle), “I am honestly sitting here telling you that J.K. Rowling is an amazing author. And the world she created outside of our own was so amazing and rich in detail. I will never read a better book than hers.” Bellamy continued to shake his head.

     “No, okay. I don’t disagree there. She is an amazing author. But we aren’t talking about writing skills. We’re talking about the actual story being read, not written. The Lord of the Rings far outweighs Harry Potter.”

     “Stop dissing my Boy Who Lived, Bellamy Blake. The whole story was amazing. Lord of the Rings was mainly war and bloodshed and the greed of men. Harry Potter was the story of people still rising above through this dark time to shine bright and keep the morality of men in check. Stop shaking your head! You cannot just block out an entire series!”

     “I have never watched Harry Potter.” He stated solemnly. Clarke’s mouth popped open in its own accord.

     “Wha—okay. I can’t judge. I’ve never watched Lord of the Rings.” She admitted reluctantly.

     “Seriously? How have you lived this long without watching it?”

     “What about you? Harry Potter was huge. How did you never see any of the movies?” Clarke shot back.

     They had begun talking about authors soon after finishing the hot chocolate. Bellamy had picked up an Emily Bronte book from next to the fish bowl. That led him to firing off questions to Clarke about her favorite books. Eventually, a debate arose between Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. A little while later, another debate came up. This time between R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike.

     On and on they went, ending up on the U shaped couch. Between them laid a small pile of books they had collected to show the other. At some point in time, Clarke had turned on the TV and brought up Netflix. They both settled for a standup comedy as background noise for their debate. She couldn’t be sure of the time, but she began to doze off on the sofa, a pillow tucked against her chest propping up her cheek. Bellamy had become engrossed in an Anne Rice novel she had handed him earlier. Clarke watched him for a small while. He was tugging on his lower lip slightly with his teeth, a habit he didn't seem to notice he had. Black curls hung down around his face, some strands flopping in front of his eyes. He didn’t seem to mind them, continuing to skim his eyes down the page. Her eyelids drooped, obscuring him from her sight.

    When she woke up, she was in bed. Sunlight was streaming down on her through the window near her bed. Blearily, she tried to remember walking back to her room, but she couldn’t. Clarke stretched out her body, yawning widely.

     She reached over for her phone. Four new messages. Three were from Octavia.

     _‘Naked bodies?! Why were there naked bodies to begin with?!’_

_‘Clarke? Are you guys alive?’_

_‘I am calling the cops if I don’t hear from either of you. Please don’t kill him. He can be nice. Sometimes.’_

     Then there was one from Raven that simply said, _‘You going to hit that?’_

     Clarke rolled her eyes at her friends. She got up quickly and walked through her restroom to peek into Octavia’s room. Her blinds were still drawn shut, the room was in semi-darkness, but Clarke could see that Bellamy was not in there. She tiptoed to her friend’s bed, then crawled in next to her. Octavia moved over to make room for her, still half asleep. She cracked her eyes open just a centimeter to look at Clarke.

     “Morning sunshine, the earth says hello.” Clarke whispered to her.

     Octavia groaned. “Go away.” She mumbled. “It’s too early.”

     "Yes it is. But I’m going back to sleep. Just needed to assure you I didn’t kill your brother and I have an alibi if one is needed.” Clarke stated matter-of-factly.

     Octavia opened her eyes wide at this, leaning forward to look at Clarke's face full on. “What was that? Naked bodies? Did you and my brother—“

     “No, Tavia! God.” She rolled away from her friend. “He was in the shower. I didn’t know anyone was here. So I was going to hop in and instead I walk in on your brother in the nude.”

     “Well, shit Clarke. Next time say it like that! ‘Two naked bodies colliding.’ What the hell else am I going to think?”

     “It was meant to sound more daunting than it actually was. I don’t think you can properly explain walking into your roommates brothers shower time through text.” They both snorted at the mental image of that. Clarke was about to ask Octavia about his recent switch in moods, but she was interrupted by her friends next sentence.

     “I would be okay with it you know.” At Clarke’s confused expression, she explained. “You and my brother. I would be okay with the two of you. I can see how it would fit.” Clarke cleared her throat awkwardly, avoiding her friend’s steady gaze.

     “Tavia, Bellamy seems nicer than before. But I hardly know him. We’ve interacted politely a total of two times. Let’s not be hasty, eh?”

     Octavia grinned at her. “Whatever you say, Princess.” Clarke groaned, throwing the blanket over her face.

     “Not you too, Tavia!”

     The two girls talked a bit more. Octavia talked about a fight that went down while her and Raven were at work. This was why they had all decided to work together. They had a few jobs separately, but getting everyone to work on time had proved difficult. And for some weird reason, they all liked working as waitresses or bartenders. There was something alluring from the socialization they got during their jobs. Plus, none of the girls liked to be still for so long. In their job, they were constantly moving, flowing around customers. But the hazards of working in bars was aggressive men pumped with too much alcohol. Working together allowed them to always have someone with them. It was a confidence booster to have her friends support throughout their shift.

     After Octavia finished recounting their night, she rolled over. “Okay Griffin. Decide now. Sleep with me, or get out of my room.” Clarke pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh out loud at Octavia’s frustration. Not even a minute passed and Clarke could hear her soft snores. She snickered at her friends sleeping form. Just as she tucked into the blankets once more, her phone chimed.

     Groaning, she reached over for it. Turning it on, she saw it was a Facebook status, posted by Monty.

     _Who is down for the Dropship_ t _omorrow night? First round is on me!_

      He had tagged Jasper, Maya, Bellamy, Octavia, Raven and herself. Scrolling down, she saw there were already comments.

     Jasper wrote: _‘Hell yeah. Free drinks. You sure know how to Woo me (;’_

     Raven commented as well less than a minute ago. _‘I’m in. I’ll let my vampire roommates know when they wake up.’_

     Clarke rolled her eyes at Ravens comment, responding with; _‘#SleepyBartender but I’m in as well.’_

     Monty: _‘Awesome, eight o’clock, our place?_

     Maya: _‘We’ll be there.’_

     Raven: _‘Clarke, you guys up? Haven’t heard either of you. #WhereYouAt_

     Clarke: _‘I_ am _cuddling with Tavia. zzZ’_

     Raven: _‘No invite? Rood.’_

     Clarke: _‘Bring me coffee and we can cuddle next.’_

     Jasper: _‘Clarke, sweetie. What did we say about selling your body for coffee?’_

     Clarke: _‘To not to..’_

     Monty: _‘Unless they throw in a bagel. Its 101, Clarke.’_

     Bellamy: _‘(Tagged Miller and Murphy)’_

     Murphy: _‘Nothing better to do.’_

     Miller: _‘I’m out of work at nine. Meet you all then?’_

     Jasper: _‘The more the merrier.’_

     Clarke: ‘ _Night everyone!’_

     She turned her ringer to vibrate, smiling to herself. Her friends were amazing. She really did want that coffee from Raven. She reminded herself to text her when she woke up to beg for a cup. Sliding under the blankets with a finality, she slid closer to Octavia’s form. She radiated a warmth that was comfortable for Clarke. Closing her eyes, she allowed herself to fall into step with Octavia’s slow breathing. In no time, she was asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, last chapter for the night. I am kind of proud of this. I now have a better time line in mind. I'll come back and better edit myself in the morning. I promise my writing wont always be this choppy. any suggestions welcomed!


	4. Pursuit of Happiness?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So who wants some shots?

"I don't know what to wear!" Octavia cried out suddenly. 

Raven and Clarke didn't get up from Clarke's bed. Octavia was always the last to get ready, usually after a long dramatic breakdown. They already knew what to do to help her out of her ‘wardrobe crisis,’ which happened too frequently.  
"We just went shopping, Tav." Raven reminded her, not looking away from her phone.  
"You guys." She whined. "You don't get it. Lincoln is coming tonight. He is going to meet Bellamy for the first time. I need something special!" she threw down the skirt she had been trying to match with a top in annoyance, glaring at them when neither had immediately jumped up to assist her.  
Clarke sighed. "I am pretty sure your brother and boyfriend won't pay much attention to your outfit." Still, she stood up and walked over to her closet. Octavia had given up on her own closet and turned next to her neighbor. If she didn't find something in here, she would run over to Ravens after. She drew out a white summer dress. "Here. Try this one."  
She had chosen a winner. Octavia stepped out a few minutes later in the white fabric. It had an open back, dipping down to her waist line. The front was crisscrossed across her chest, a small diamond of skin showing in the center. The skirt was full, twirling as she stepped side to side. She was beaming.  
"It's perfect. Thank you Clarke!"  
"No problem. Now go finish your makeup. We’re late as it is."

 

When they were all dressed, they made their way down the stairs. Taking one step at a time gingerly, since they decided to wear heels. Raven carried a huge shoulder bag that had their flats in case they needed them throughout the night. She would leave it in whichever vehicle they took.

"What time do we work tomorrow?" Octavia asked over her shoulder.

"I'm off tomorrow." Clarke responded. "So is Raven, I think."

"Yes I am. Why?"

"Just making sure we can all drink?" Octavia flashed them a grin. The two girls scoffed at that. They all knew even if they worked, there would be drinking.

Rounding the corner leading to Monty and Jasper’s place, they saw Bellamy, Miller and Murphy standing awkwardly in front of the door, talking in low voices.

“What are you losers doing standing around?”

They all whipped their heads around to look at the three girls.

Murphy whistled. “Damn Clarke, haven’t seen you in ages. You look hot tonight.” His eyes grazed down her body.

Clarke swatted him playfully in the arm. “Murphy, you’re still a charmer. Why are you guys just standing here?” 

At that moment, the door swung open. Monty’s anxious face peeked out at them all.

“False alarm, Jasper.” He yelled over his shoulder. “We weren’t stood up. They’re all standing in the hallway.” He turned back to them glaring.

“Why are they in the hallway?” Came Jaspers muffled voice from the background.

“We were running late. Outfits are time consuming.” Octavia shrugged. “Then we ran into these creepers standing out here.” She edged around the guys in the hallway, sliding into the apartment.

“We weren’t creeping. We were congregating before knocking.” 

“Congregating?” Raven scoffed at Miller. “We’re here for a night out. Lighten up, officer.” She lightly punched him on the shoulder, then followed Octavia. Clarke walked right behind her, Murphy right on her heels.

 

Bellamy had paused outside of the apartment door to remind the other two of the youth’s excitability. More like warn them, he thought.

“They are seriously fun. I’ll give them that. But they’re all in their early twenties. Remember how we were at that age?”

Miller barked out a laugh. “So, they’re going to end up shitfaced and in strange people’s houses?”

Bellamy grimaced at that. “I don’t want us to babysit them. Just make sure the group comes back all together, yeah?”

At that moment, they all heard a weird clicking noise. Then his sister’s voice rang out, and he realized the noise had been their heels. He had to take a moment just to stare. They all looked—nice. He frowned at his choice of words. Octavia was in this white dress that made her glow. Raven was in a black pencil skirt that hugged her small but curvy figure well, a black crop top making her chest seem more voluptuous. Her normal ponytail was discarded, her long hair down her back and straight.

Clarke wore a long pink skirt. A slit ran up her thigh and ended a little below her hip, allowing one of her legs to be flashed entirely. A white lacy top covered most of her chest, leaving a small amount of flat belly to peek out. Her hair was down and wavy. She was beautiful, he thought. 

And Murphy beat him to commenting on it. His stomach twisted slightly at his roommate’s flirting, but he felt better when Clarke didn’t reciprocate. They all went into the apartment after the girls.

Monty and Jasper were in the living room. Clarke and Octavia had all surrounded Maya, complimenting her attire. Bellamy greeted her warmly before turning to fist bump Jasper.

“Let’s just take shots, then head out. It’s already late and I reserved a table at the Dropship.” Monty explained to them all, flipping his black hair out of his face.

“Well, where’s the alcohol then?” Clarke hooted. 

Jasper clapped his hands together. “This way, my friends. To our new kitchen table.”

“You sure you and Maya don’t want to give the table a test run before?” Raven threw out, winking at Maya.

“Who says we didn’t already?” Maya blew a kiss at Jasper’s shocked face and skipped into the kitchen. Bellamy didn’t know what specifically they were talking about, but he had a small clue.

“And we’re going to drink off of that now?” Murphy called out, but followed the line into the kitchen anyway. On the table were shot glasses. Bellamy counted quickly. Eighteen shots. Enough for two each.

“Go hard or go home.” Monty stated, shrugging then picking up a glass.

Clarke was the first to grab another glass. “You’re technically home.” She reminded him, before throwing back her drink quickly. She smacked her lips together and set the glass upside down on the table in front of her.

“A girl who can handle her liquor.” Murphy muttered. “Now that is hot.” Everyone was busy downing their drinks, so only Bellamy heard. He grabbed his drink, tilted his head back and bitterly swallowed the alcohol. He agreed, but like hell he wanted to hear it from Murphy.

The night had barely started and Bellamy was already in a grumpy mood. He frowned at himself. So what if Murphy made the moves on Clarke? It’s not like she was taken. It’s not like he specifically wanted to ‘make moves’ on her. It’s not like he had actually enjoyed himself the other night.

“What’s with you, big brother?” 

“Nothing. Long day at work.” He lied. Then, to his delight, Clarke walked over.

“Here.” She handed him a shot. “One more, and you won’t care about your exhaustion.” She smiled warmly at him. The tight feeling in his chest dissipated at that moment. “Together?”

Octavia answered before he could. “Together!”

Bellamy chuckled, and raised his eyebrows at Clarke in exasperation. She laughed at his sister’s interruption, but raised her shot along with the siblings. 

“Wait! The last shot is for a toast.” Monty called out quickly. Bellamy stopped himself before the liquid touched his lips. 

“A toast?” Miller looked amused.

“Yeah. For a fun night. All we have to do is survive two more weeks and then we are off on our vacation!” Monty looked fondly at everyone around the table.

“I’ll toast to that.” Raven called out, Maya whooping loudly beside her.

“Two more weeks till Party Cabin!” Octavia yelled. Everyone else drank to that toast as well.

 

The Dropship was packed that night. The only reason they didn’t have to wait in line was because of Lincoln. He was a co-owner of the club. So naturally, he always kept his girlfriend and her friends on the list. And Clarke loved him for that.

They were able to skip the line, people grumbling at them and their luck. Clarke walked into the building beside Raven. The two girls had their arms linked, wide grins splattered on their faces. When she said the club was packed, it had been an understatement. It was brimming with bodies. The dance floor was a few steps down from them. A pulsing blue light made up the floor, lights glowing and illuminating people. She held up her hand in front of her. Her skin looked foreign under the lights. Clarke loved this part, how she felt like an alien in here. The bar was filled, no stools were available. The bartenders were flying around behind the counters, keeping up with the steady demand of drinks.

“The table is this way.” Monty yelled over at them. They walked over to a large booth. Miller left them to head to the bar, promising to bring back a pitcher of something.

“Where is Lincoln?” Octavia surveyed the large room while trying to act like she wasn’t.

“He’ll pop up. He always does.” Maya assured her. Clarke nodded her agreement, sliding in besides her friends. 

“Hey ladies.” Wick appeared besides them. Raven grinned wider, standing up to hug her boyfriend. He murmured something in her ear that made her blush, but over the loud music, only Raven could hear him. Clarke turned away to give them some privacy, noticing Bellamy gazing at her.

She felt herself warm up under his scrutiny. The blue lights made his dark skin glow brighter, but it darkened his eyes. He looked dangerous at that moment, even though Clarke knew he was anything but. Shivering slightly, she noted the way his lips were drawn into a straight line. She had noticed he was being crabby tonight, more withdrawn. She wondered why. He had been fine the night before. What if he regretted being so friendly with her? Maybe he didn’t want her thinking he liked her like that. 

She looked away from him, frowning slightly, but promising herself not to let him get to her tonight. Clarke hadn’t drank with her friends since the night of Bellamy’s return. She was determined to enjoy tonight as fully as she could.

“Who wants to dance?” She yelled over the music at her table. Octavia, Maya and, much to her dismay, Murphy agreed to go with her. Clarke stood up and swept to the stairs leading down to where everyone was dancing. Octavia wound her hand between Clarke’s, gripping her tight to not lose her in the overflowing crowd. They grinned at each other, and began to dance once they reached the center of the crowd. The song was from Kid Cudi. She could just make out the lyrics of Pursuit of Happiness. Swaying her body, she let herself forget about dark eyes and changing moods.

The lyrics rang out ‘I’m on the Pursuit of Happiness and I know everything that shine aint always gunna be gold. Yeah. I’ll be fine once I get it. I’ll be good.’ She chanted the words as she danced, arms thrown over her head. Octavia and Maya joined in, throwing their voices up in the air as they twisted around to the beat.

 

Bellamy watched Clarke walk off to the dancefloor with his sister. Murphy had jumped up also, but he had spotted another female who caught his eye, and he headed that way instead of following Clarke. Good, thought Bellamy.

“Hey, you look like you could use a drink” Miller appeared beside him, carrying a bottle of Jack Daniels. He shrugged at Bellamy’s questioning glance. “A bottle is better than a pitcher, no?”

“Hell yeah it is.” Jasper chirped up.

“Why aren’t you out dancing with your woman?” Miller asked him. “She’s going to end up going home with one of those girls if you aren’t careful.”

“They honestly would steal Maya.” Jasper muttered, looking over at the writhing girls. “Come on Monty. I don’t want to be the only guy dancing.” Monty opened his eyes wide.

“Drink before we go?” 

“Definitely.”

Scoffing, Miller poured them both a hefty amount of alcohol into two glasses and slid it their way. The two guys chugged it. Monty shook out his shoulders, as if preparing for a fight.

“It’s go time.”

“Hurry before I change my mind.” Jasper stood suddenly, taking off after his girlfriend. Monty scrambled after him.

It became apparent why they were hesitant to go out in the first place. They were as uncoordinated on the dance floor as they were anywhere else they went. Monty bobbed his head constantly, resembling a chicken pecking for food. Jasper tried sliding in smoothly beside Maya, but managed to stumble. She reached out to steady him while he turned a shade of pink. Bellamy and Miller both cracked up.

“So what gives, man?” Miller asked after they had watched the two guys integrate themselves with the girls. “You didn’t work today. Which you told Octavia was the reason you’re pissed.” Bellamy didn’t say anything. “You were fine when we got to the apartment.” Again, Bellamy kept his silence. Miller passed him a glass full of Jack. “Here.” He said. “To help ease the stick out of your ass.”

“Shut up Miller.” Bellamy muttered, but he took the drink.

He downed three glasses before making his way to the restroom. A small buzz was starting to creep up on him. He kept watching Clarke, trying not to be obvious about it. The girl could dance, he gave her that. She moved her body so fluidly and without hesitation. He felt himself flush at the image of her swaying hips. That one leg jutting out was tantalizing. He shook his head, trying to focus.

“Bellamy! Fancy meeting you here.” He turned at his name, spotting the waitress from the diner Octavia had taken him too. She was in a skimpy black dress that showed all her—assets. He couldn’t remember her name, his slurred mind not helping him catch it. “It’s Harper.” She told him after his hesitation. “I’m a friend of Octavia’s.”

He nodded at her and smiled slightly. “Yeah, I remember. How’s it going?”

“Oh, it’s going.” She leaned in closer to him. “Are you here with your girlfriend?” she asked innocently enough, but he knew what she was aiming for.

“Uhh—no girlfriend. Just a group of friends.” He gestured vaguely behind him. She perked up at his words. Placing her hand on his elbow, she blinked up at him. 

“Want to get a drink?”

 

They danced for what felt like hours. Coming back to the table, Clarke found out they had danced for two hours straight. Miller was sitting at the table next to Murphy. She hadn’t noticed his disappearance from the dance floor until that moment. Yet, she noticed Bellamy was gone the second they walked up to the table.

“Where’s my brother?” Clarke was glad Octavia asked. She had been trying to look around for him discreetly. 

Miller looked up at them. “He just left to the restroom.”

Raven and Wick walked up to them. “Hey there, happy feet.” She poked Clarke in the ribs. “Can we take shots now? I am too sober.”

Clarke sighed her relief. “Yes. Definitely shots time.”

“Let’s play the quarter game!” Maya clapped her hands excitedly.

“Let me go order more drinks. This bottle is almost out.” Monty stood up. “I did promise you all a round.” Winking, he spun around and headed to the bar, pushing past the hordes of bodies standing around.

They distributed what remained of the bottle. The Moonshine they normally drank boosted their tolerance for ‘normal’ alcohol, which meant they had to drink a bit more to match their buzz from Jasper’s creation. 

“Shame we can’t bring in Moonshine. My ol’ faithful.” Jasper mirrored her thoughts.

“No shame. We need to give our livers a break every so often.” Raven scolded him.

They put a glass in the center of the table, each holding their own cup of liquor in front of them. Wick pulled out a quarter from his pocket and neatly bounced it from the table directly into the glass with a clean pinging noise. He looked down and grinned at Raven, making it obvious she would drink first. 

“You are an obnoxious chemist, Kyle Wick.” She rolled her eyes at him, gulping down half her drink quickly. 

“What does my major have to do with anything, wrench monkey?” Clarke laughed loudly at their cute bickering. Raven merely ignored him, fishing out the quarter. She bounced it, but missed by a few centimeters. 

“Chug what’s left!” Murphy called out, grinning wickedly.

Octavia was next, making her shot. “Murphy, your turn. Let’s see if you can handle your shit as well as we can.” He scoffed at her, but drank from his cup steadily.

Clarke followed, the quarter landing squarely in the cup. “I call on Miller!”

“You professionals are getting us old timers drunk on purpose, huh?” He chuckled, drinking up.

“Guys. Guess what I just saw!” Monty came running up to their table, a bottle of Skyy Vodka tucked into his arm. “Bellamy making out with Harper!”

Clarke felt her breath leave her. Octavia gasped next to her. “What? My brother? With Harper? How?” She turned to look at Clarke with large eyes. Clarke tried to make sure her face looked indifferent, but she might have been a second too late because her friend reached out to squeeze her hand lightly under the table.

“I didn’t even know they knew each other.” Maya looked confused.

Octavia groaned, dropping her head in her hands. “That is my fault.” She glanced apologetically at Clarke, but quickly looked away and gave the same look to Maya, so no one would question it. “I took him to the diner the night after he came home. She had her flirting face on! Harper must have spotted him tonight.”

Clarke stayed silent as her friends talked around her. She had to admit, it did hurt her a bit. They had gotten along so well. But she had been stupid to think it was anything more than just a nice night. It’s now obvious Bellamy had no feelings for her. 

She frowned at herself. Feelings? God, she was being absurd. Like she told Octavia while they cuddled, they had only interacted twice. Feelings aren’t created in that small time frame. Besides, Octavia had always told Clarke about her brother’s—floozy ways. And Clarke Griffin was anything but floozy. So of course, she wasn’t his type.

“Hey Clarke, you want this as a shot? Or do we order you juice?” Jasper brought her out of her musings. He was fixing everyone with more alcohol.

“I’ll take the shot, Jasper.” She wrinkled her nose at him. He shouldn’t even have to ask that ridiculous question.

“Come on Jas. You know us better than that.” Octavia rang out. Jasper bowed in a sarcastic apologetic way, pouring the clear liquor into their empty glasses. 

“So what other games do you youngsters have?” Murphy asked.

“Truth or dare.” It was Wick who suggested this. “When this lot gets drunk, they get nasty about this game. It’s all good fun to watch though. Until it’s your turn.” Raven leaned into his side, his arm snaking out to cover her shoulders. Clarke looked away from their cuteness, no longer finding it amusing.

Suddenly, Octavia leaped up. “Lincoln!” the tall man lumbering his way to them was Octavia’s boyfriend. Her eyes sparkled as she went to hug him. He was a full head taller than her, which is pretty tall since Octavia herself was far from the short side. He leaned down and gave her a deep kiss.

“So, truth or dare huh?” Clarke called out, giving the couple some privacy. “Who goes first?”

“I will.” Maya raised her hand. “Jasper, truth or dare.”

“I’m feeling brave.” He sat up straighter, puffing out his chest in a mocking bravado way. “Dare.”

Maya nodded like she knew he would say that. “I dare you to kiss Lincoln hello as well.”

They all sat in amusement, watching Jasper stroll casually up to the couple. Lincoln extended his hand to Jasper, which he grasped firmly. Before Lincoln knew what hit him, Jasper leaned in quickly, planting a loud kiss on the corner of his mouth. Then he ducked away quickly, rushing to explain what just happened before he was hit. Those left at the table broke out in laughter. Clarke’s sides hurt. She was bent down, trying to stop the laughs that kept worsening her cramp.

“Monty, you’re turn.” Jasper returned to the table, Lincoln and Octavia right behind him. The couple looked amused and ready to join in.

“Alright. Miller. Truth or dare.”

“Truth.”

“If you had to choose someone to sleep with from this table, who would you choose?”

Miller scoffed. “Damn, I need another shot before answering that.” He chose Murphy. ‘I need to know a person fairly well before sleeping with them,’ was his excuse.

Finally, it was Octavia’s turn. “Clarke.” She knew her friend would choose her. Groaning, Clarke took a large gulp of the disgusting but heavily needed liquor before turning to look at Octavia. “Truth or dare?”

“Dare.” Damn it. The word was out of her mouth before she could stop it. She meant to choose Truth, which is far safer. But she was already feeling the effects of all the shots she’d taken. Her tongue was too loose and her bravery had been falsely amplified.

Octavia grinned wickedly at her. “I dare you to find a willing man and make out with him. After making sure he is single, of course.”

“I volunteer as the willing man.” Murphy raised his hand. This brought on a chuckle from the table.

“Too easy.” Raven chided from the comfort of Wick’s arms.

“Fine, let me rephrase. A willing strange man you’ve never met before. And Maya has to go with you to confirm it actually happens.” Octavia smiled at her contently, a gleam in her eye as she surveyed Clarke.

Murphy deflated while Miller sympathetically patted him on the shoulder. Clarke stumbled her way out of the table with Maya following in suit.

“Want to head to the bar?” Maya gestured to the crowded counter. Clarke frowned. No, she thought. That was where Monty spotted Bellamy. Fuck Bellamy Blake, she howled in her mind.

“No, too many drunks. Let’s go to the dance floor again.” They slithered their way between bodies, Clarke scoping out any guy who looked willing. There were a lot actually. But if she was going to do this, she didn’t want to set her standards low. She would find the hottest option. Dancing with Maya’s arms wrapped around her, Clarke danced her ass off. She moved like she had never moved before. The sky vodka settled heavy in her veins, making her bolder than she would be sober. Doesn’t alcohol always have that effect on a person?

“Hey, a guy is checking you out. And he is a hunk. Definitely choose him.” Maya breathed in her ear. “No, don’t turn.” She added when Clarke tried to look at the direction she had indicated. “He is trying to make his way over here. Let him come.” Maya stepped slightly away from Clarke, leaving room for the mystery man to join her. 

Clarke kept dancing, glad the music had shifted into a faster beat. When she felt herself collide with someone, she looked over at Maya for confirmation. At her nod, she put on her widest grin and turned to see who she would be kissing tonight.

His dark hair was longer than she remembered, falling past his chiseled face. His lips were parted slightly, full and inviting. Dark eyes looked at her warily, waiting to gauge her reaction. Clarke gasped slightly, her body coming to a standstill. Someone behind her bumped into her and she felt her equilibrium abandon her (it had probably abandoned her somewhere after her fifth shot of vodka).

 

She fell into the arms of Finn Collins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember that feeling of 'does he like me? Does he not?' Yeah. It sucks. But it's where most of us start.


	5. Locked Doors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drunk nights sometimes go awry, but usually you end up where you should.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanted to post this last night, but I wasn't able to. I broke my streak of a chapter per day. But I'll make up for it today, promise!

Bellamy was finally able to extricate himself from Harper. She had latched onto him on his way to the restroom. He let her lead him to the bar, where she ordered some fruity drink with cherries toppling over. She had asked him about his life, rubbing her fingers over his thigh. 

He politely kept his hands over the table, sliding his leg a bit closer to himself. Don’t get him wrong, Bellamy was a sucker for the long legged willing bombshells like the one in front of him. But in recent times, this suddenly didn’t seem to feel like—his scene.

Bellamy at one point rose, bidding her goodbye and paying for their drinks when she all of a sudden lunged at him. He was pushed back on the counter, bewildered and awkward. Things had only gotten more awkward after that when he told her he wasn’t planning on ‘getting to know her more’ like that. Harper began to cry suddenly, sitting down hard on the stool.

He stood there horrified, thinking it was because of him. But Harper told her about her long-time boyfriend moving away to college and he recently sent her a letter—a letter? Who does that?—telling her they were over. She went on to wave at him, saying she was now throwing herself on guys and she didn’t do this often and she was so mortified and she hoped he wouldn’t tell Octavia and finally waving him away.

It was all so horribly confusingly awkward and he could have handled that better, but he was buzzed and he still hadn’t gone to the restroom.

He brought another bottle of liquor from the bar before heading back to the table. The bottle was to make up for ditching them for over two hours. Walking to where the booth is, Bellamy realizes how packed the club was getting. Almost everyone was drunk, so it was starting to get a bit pushy. He quickened his pace, wanting to make sure the girls were okay.

“Red alert. Red alert. Raven we need to go get her!” Octavia was hopping around, looking agitated when Bellamy reached her. Raven was holding her arm, preventing her from leaving. Where was she trying to go?

“No, Octavia. She needs to do this on her own. If we march in now, she’s not going to have closure.”

“Fuck closure. She just needs to stay away from his manipulating ass.”

“What’s going on?”

Octavia whirled around at him. He stepped back from her glare. What had he done?

“Where the hell have you been Bellamy Blake?” He lifted up the bottle feebly. Octavia didn’t even glance at it before snatching it away and tossing it to Monty, who caught it swiftly. “You need to go out onto that dance floor and get Clarke away from that asshole.” She jabbed a finger into his chest.

“Whoa, wait. Why me? And what asshole?” how long was he gone?

“If we go and get her, she’ll feel like we are preventing her from defending herself.” Raven chimed in. “She’ll think we are making her feel weak.”

“You go and pretend you bumped into her accidentally. Challenge her to a drinking game. Anything to make her move.” Octavia demanded.

“Flirt with her.” Monty called out, looking serious.

“Flirt with her.” Raven confirmed.

“Just wait there until she comes to the table with you.” Octavia finished.

“You guys are bombarding him. Give him the story. He’ll be inclined to help if he knows what the fuck is going on.” Murphy said lazily, still sipping on a glass full of something.

“Right. Long story short. The way I met Clarke was by finding out my fiancé was dating her.” Raven said bluntly. She didn’t even stop at Bellamy’s shocked face. “Yeah. Boohoo. Whatever. Clarke has a hard past. I am not discussing that. Finn managed to get under her skin. He manipulated her as much as he did me, but she took longer to recover. That same asshole is now trying to talk to a drunk Clarke. Can you go get her? We would, but she hates weakness.” 

With the angry looks given to him by Octavia, Raven, Monty and Jasper, he had no choice.

“Fine.” Bellamy turned and headed to the stairs. He paused for a moment, looking for Clarke. He found her after a few seconds, her blonde hair jutting out brightly under all the LED lights. Standing in front of her must be Finn. Bellamy could see him talking quickly, his eyebrows drawn close together as he scrutinized Clarkes face.

Bellamy bristled at the tension drawing Clarke’s shoulders into a hunch. It looked like she was trying to make herself smaller. Which he found impossible. A spirit like hers demanded space.

Forgetting that his sister had been the one who asked for his help, Bellamy marched down the steps, sliding through the crowd easily. He had a princess to secretly save. How cliché.

After a few more strides, he was behind her. 

“Do you want to go get coffee?” He could hear Finn ask her, trying to make his voice sound like a purr. “We can talk more there.” He felt his insides writhe suddenly, a possessive anger roaring up in the pit of his stomach. Like hell he’s taking her. It’ll be him who takes her home, he suddenly promised. 

Clarke took a step away from him. Bellamy saw his chance, stepping in quickly to press against her. Her back was to his chest again. She didn’t jump. Clarke merely looked up at him with wide eyes. He grinned down at her, trying to tell her she was okay now.

“Hey Princess.”

“Bellamy.” She didn’t smile at him, but her face suddenly relaxed. 

“What’s this I hear about you being able to outdrink me? I thought I showed you up last time.” He winked down at her, placing one hand on her shoulder to discreetly turn her towards him.

If Clarke was confused, she didn’t show it. She did scoff though. “You wish Blake. You didn’t drink as much as I did that night.”

“Well, there’s a brand new bottle waiting for us at the table. You on for some beer pong back at your place?” He threw her his signature grin, the one that suggested—more. She blushed lightly, but she tilted her chin higher in the air as she stared him down.

It wasn’t until Finn sighed loudly that Bellamy even acknowledged the guy. “Clarke—“ he began softly. “I haven’t been able to reach you. If we could just talk.” Finn’s eyes darted over to Bellamy quickly before flicking back to Clarke. “I just want to know you’re okay. With everything.” Again, he looked at Bellamy before continuing. “You know—what happened with your family.”

“No.” Suddenly, Clarke looked angry. “You don’t get to do that, Finn. You can’t come back into a person’s life after doing what you did. And you do not get to stand there and ask if I am okay.”

“I just want to know—“ 

“I don’t care what you want.” Clarke cut him off, abruptly spinning on her tall heels. Finn’s arm shot out, grabbing her elbow. Suddenly, Bellamy found himself winding his arm around Clarke’s waist, drawing her away from Finn’s reach. He stepped towards Finn menacingly.

“Don’t touch her, man.”

Finn looked at Clarke incredibly, as if waiting for her to scold Bellamy. But Clarke merely glared back at him from beside Bellamy. 

“Alright. I see you still don’t want to talk like adults. I won’t overstep my boundaries. Just please remember you can talk to me about anything. Okay?” Finn stepped forward lightly, but Bellamy stood his ground, not letting him nearer to Clarke. With one last glare, Finn walked back slowly.

Bellamy watched him go, not looking away from the retreating back until he had passed the doors leading outside of the club. A tug on his wrist made him turn around. Clarke was eying him shrewdly. 

“Why’d you do that, Blake?” 

“Sorry for scaring away your friend,” was all he told her. She scoffed, but let it go. “So about that beer pong?”

 

Clarke swayed just then. She could feel her blood returning to her head and it gave her a dizzy rush. Bellamy reached out and steadied her, letting her lean against his side.

“Easy. Guess that’s a no to more alcohol.” She snorted at that. “Come on. Let’s get some water in you or something.” Bellamy guided her off the dance floor and straight to the booth, where she was immediately surrounded by her friends.

“Oh my god, Clarke I am so sorry. I did not know who he was. I am seriously so sorry.” Maya apologized over and over again.

“Dude, I did not see him coming.” Octavia stared at her anxiously.

Clarke hated that her friends were hovering right now. She glanced over at Bellamy. She saw the pity in his eyes. Groaning, she stood back up.

“Seriously, guys. I am fine.” She waved them off. “I am going home though. Think I drank too much.” Her voice sounded slurry enough.

“Do you want me to come with you?” Octavia volunteered.

“Yeah, we can go cuddle more in the living room.” Raven suggested, abandoning Wick to come to her side.

Clarke looked at her two friends. The anger in her chest at their hovering dissipated slightly. She knew they didn’t mean to make her feel like a baby. They just genuinely wanted to help. She smiled softly, bringing Raven and Octavia in for a hug. Maybe the alcohol really was affecting her—she was feeling so sentimental at that moment. Taking a huge breath, she pushed away from them.

“No. I want you both to stay here and enjoy the night for me. I really am too drunk. And Finn—“ she waved her hand airily instead of continuing. “I’m just going to call a cab, head home and sleep. Please?” she looked into their eyes deeply. “I need a moment alone.”

They both looked doubtful, but they understood regardless.

“I’ll take you home.”

Clarke turned to look at Bellamy. He continued before she could protest.

“I am not letting a drunk woman wander away alone. I’ll drop you off at your apartment.” His dark eyes burned into her, letting her know there was no way around his demand. She sniffled, bobbing her head at him.

Bellamy walked over to talk to Miller while Clarke said goodbye to everyone else. Even though she knew her friends were just caring, she needed to get away from the pity lining their eyes.

 

With Bellamy’s hands steering Clarke by the shoulders, he pushed their way out of the club. A bouncer opened the door for them, fresh air hitting their faces. He could hear Clarke take a deep breath. She inhales deeply as they step outside. With the doors closing behind them, a sudden hush follows. The music is cut off. And it’s late enough that the crowd outside dispersed.

“This way.” He leads her around to where his truck was parked.

“Oh wow. That truck is so old. How awesome!” Clarke walks over to the passenger side, running her fingers over the old paint. She genuinely seems to like the truck, Bellamy thought. He smiled. Well, it was a badass truck. 

“It used to be my dad’s.” That came out before he could think his words through. Clarke turns to him, her mouth in a small O. He moves passed her and opens the door for her. “Come on, Princess. Let’s go.”

Clarke stands there, chewing her lip slightly. “Octavia never mentions your dad. Is he still—around?” Bellamy knew she meant to ask if he was alive, but she changed the word for his benefit.

“If you get in the truck, I’ll tell you.” The fresh air seemed to make her balance more unstable. She was swaying lightly, tipping onto the balls of her feet. Which was scary on its own because of the tall heels she wore. Clarke nodded once, then stumbled over to the opened door.

Bellamy made sure her flowy clothing were all inside before he closed the door. He walked around to the driver’s side and slipped in. His truck turned on with a load roar, and then he was driving away. He didn’t feel bad about leaving the club without everyone else. Octavia assured him she would go home with Miller. And Miller promised to get them all back into their respective homes. 

“Your truck—“ Clarke was leaning her head back against the seat, her eyes closed. The red light they were at illuminated her face. “It smells like wood.” She inhaled deeply again. “And leather. And—ah, I can’t grab the scent. What is it?” 

Bellamy chuckled. “I’m not sure. Guess I’m adjusted to the scent.”

“So it was your dads?” She turned her head towards him, opening her eyes. He met her gaze for a few seconds. If he told her about his dad, would she judge him? Hell, maybe she won’t even remember, he thought. She was drunk.

“My dad left. Octavia was one, I was six. My mother was—difficult to be with, and he couldn’t deal with it. Or us, I guess, because we never heard from him since. In the back of the house we had, was this truck. He had bought it off a junk yard sale. I think it didn’t cost him much. But he was fixing it up, piece by piece. In high school, I did the same. I began looking for the parts it needed.” He grinned over at her then, feeling proud. “Got this beast up and running in a little over a month. Something my old man hadn’t been able to do.”

Clarke’s smile was kind and he suddenly felt warm. “That’s amazing, Bellamy. This truck just got a whole lot better.”

“Yeah, that’s how I see it.” 

Clarke had closed her eyes again, humming softly to a song coming from the radio. 

“Promise.” She said suddenly. 

“What?”

“The song is called Promise, by Ben Howard. I’ve always wanted to learn how to play this on a guitar.”

“You play the guitar?”

Clark snorted. “I wish. I draw. Instruments are unknown territory for me. But if I had to learn one song, it would be this one.” She still had her eyes closed, but she kept her head tilted in his direction as she spoke.

“So the Princess can draw.” 

She stiffened slightly at his nickname. “Yes. I can.”

“What do you draw?”

“Anything I can see behind my eyelids.”

“Only behind your eyelids?”

Clarke opened her eyes to glare at him. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me.”

He felt her eyes on his face, but he kept it as smooth as possible, staring directly in front of him at the road ahead. Bellamy was sure that if his face showed any emotion, she would shut down and not explain anything.

“Fine. You know how you close your eyes and you can picture something? Usually, it’s a faded, watered down image of the original. When I find something worth drawing, I close my eyes and the image is clearly imprinted in my mind. It’s not see-through. I can separate all the lines and edges and hues.” She shrugs. “That’s when I know I need to draw what I see.”

Bellamy paused to think of that. He tried calling up an image of something random; his apartment room. He realized she was right about the faded quality of his memory. 

“So can you draw me?” 

Clarke turned fully to look at him. This time, he met her gaze, having parked outside of her building already.

“If you’re behind my eyelids.” She said simply.

“And am I?”

Clarke threw him a wide grin, but didn’t answer. She opened her door and slid out smoothly instead.

 

She tried to tell Bellamy she could walk to her apartment on her own, but he waved her off and wouldn’t even let her finish her protesting.

“Just go, Princess. I’m not leaving until you enter your place.” She stopped complaining, but grumbled under her breath. He just threw a grin at her, knowing how annoyed she was.

She stopped on the third landing suddenly. Bellamy, who had been walking closely behind her ‘to make sure she don’t drunkenly fall down the steps,’ almost tripped over her. She sat down heavily on one of the steps and began to take off her heels.

“How do girls even deal with those things?” Bellamy stood over her, looking down in exasperation. “I mean, they’re hot and all, but they must be killer.” He honestly looked confused and Clarke couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled out passed her lips. “Shut up.” He mumbled, but a small smile lingered on his face. Bellamy reached out and grabbed her hand after she took off her shoes, helping her stand up. He reached over and took the heels out of her hand, holding them gingerly from one finger. The rest of the flights up were in a comfortable silence, and to her delight, he held her hand the whole way up.

Reaching her door, she tried to fish out her keys from her purse. But looking down, Clarke groaned in horror. 

“Of course!” she yelled.

“What?” his hands fluttered around her hesitantly, trying to figure out what was wrong. It would have been heartwarming at any other moment, just not tonight.

“I left my purse. I left it at the booth.” She glared at the door. “I don’t have my keys.”

Bellamy sighed heavily. “Well, I can break the door in?” he offered.

She looked over at him in horror. “Do not even try that. We are not going to pay to fix it later.” Clarke just didn’t have a break tonight. She went back to the stairs and sat down on the top step, not looking back to see if Bellamy listened to her. First, Bellamy and Harper, then a drunken encounter with Finn. And now she’s locked out. Whoop, vacation, she thought bitterly.

Bellamy came and sat beside her. He was very warm, his heat radiating toward her. She noticed he smelled like his truck. She still couldn’t place her finger on what his scent reminded her of. It was spicy but soft, a mix of old and new. He leaned closer to her in the narrow stairs. They were side by side, her leg pressed against his. The warmth he gave off intensified at his close proximity.

“Wanna talk about it?” He didn’t look at her when he asked, picking at a seam on his jeans.

Suddenly, Clarke realized she did want to talk about it. “Yes.” Bellamy looked up at her shocked, but he quickly went back to a neutral expression, picking at his seam once more. “But I don’t want you to respond. Just—listen. And then tell me to get over it when I am done. No pity or sympathy. Got it?”

Bellamy scoffed. “I don’t do sympathy, Princess. Least not about guy troubles.” He shrugged.

Clarke could see that. And that was why she felt okay telling him. She ignored the part of her that whispered a different reason. Maybe she wanted to tell him because she trusted him. Pushing that sentimental notion away from the front of her mind, she opened her mouth and let her words fall out.

“I met Finn when I was seventeen. I had gotten my jeep then, so I left home. I didn’t know where I was going, but I ended up in a small town about six hours from here. We met at a bookstore. A sign on the window made me pull over. And we just—fit. I stuck around for a few weeks and—“

“Wait, if you were seventeen, why weren’t you in school?”

She glared at him for interrupting, but answered him anyway. “I graduated at seventeen. I skipped pre-k and kinder. Anyway, we began dating. It was all so liberating. Being with Finn made me feel like I found a place to call home. It was just so—“ How could she describe to Bellamy how Finn made her feel? He had been her sanctuary. A place where the outside roar silenced completely. “Whatever. It was rainbows and unicorns, until it wasn’t. I came to AU, to be close to him. But also because of the medical program here and its amazing reputation—“

“Wait, you’re in the medical program? Like, for a doctor?”

“Bellamy Blake, will you let a person vent in peace?”

He held up his hands in his surrendering pose. “Sorry. I’m just trying to piece everything together!”

“Fine. Yes, I want to be a pediatric surgeon.”

“That’s pretty cool you know.”

She—did Bellamy just say she was cool? Clarke lost her train of thought.

He must have misunderstood the reason behind her silence because he quickly added, “No more interruptions. Honest.” Bellamy held up three fingers in a scout’s salute. It was so cute, she almost wanted to ‘awe’ out loud. 

Instead, she continued. “I came to AU. I met your sister, who adopted me automatically. Then half way between my freshman year, Raven shows up with a diamond ring on her finger.” 

She didn’t continue. It was pretty self-explanatory.

“How’d you two remain friends?”

“Well, after we found out about the other, she left. Octavia took me out to get drunk. And we ran into each other at the only bar that served to minors. Your sister was positive a fight was going to break out.” Clarke smiled fondly at that memory. “She put her hair up in a ponytail and everything. In case I needed her.” Bellamy barked out a laugh. 

“Yeah, sounds like my sister.”

“Most definitely.” Clarke agreed. “One thing led to another, and we all got drunk together. Raven crashed in our dorm. Stayed for a week as we ate our hearts out with Ben and Jerry ice cream. Then she registered for spring classes and we never separated again.” She paused, remembering the weirdness of it all. “She sort of just made sense to me.”

“Friendships like that are rare.” Bellamy agreed.

“She’s the one good thing that came out of the—situation. Everything else is just something that makes me want to bury my head under a mountain.”

“I promised you no sympathy, but you know that wasn’t your fault right? There are just assholes out there who just don’t care about people.”

“I know. It’s been almost two years since everything happened. I’ve gone through the logic that takes the blame away. It just—sucks man.” She sighed heavily. Bellamy chuckled at her choice of words, his small laughter vibrating through their touching shoulders. “I believed someone so much, and just as suddenly, it’s all gone. It just—proved to me that—no one stays.”

 

She didn’t want his sympathy. The warnings Octavia and Raven gave him still rang in his head. But the sadness in her voice at that moment washed away any hesitation. He wrapped one arm around her slender shoulder, pulling her into his side. Clarke stiffened for a moment, but then sighed deeply and sunk into him as she relaxed. His heart throbbed a bit when she placed her head on his shoulder. 

He didn’t say anything. He promised not to pity her. So he wouldn’t. Instead, he’d comfort her. They sat like that for a long while. His ass hurt from sitting on the step for so long, but Bellamy ignored it. He was sure that his moving would break the peace they were in, and she would move away. But the feel of her tucked away at his side was far more intoxicating than the alcohol he had drank tonight. 

‘Get a grip, Bellamy.’ She was just drunk and emotionally battered because of her ex. Who was a douche bag, he mentally added. This was nothing more than a weak moment for her. Right? He snuck a glance down at her. Clarke had been peeking up at him at the same time. They locked gazes. 

He felt his breath hitch as he stared into her clear blue eyes. Bellamy felt himself leaning forward. And he was so fucking glad when Clarke tipped forward as well. He continued to stare into her eyes, knowing he would stop himself if he saw a flicker of doubt in her. But he didn’t. His mind was at a blank for the first time.

They were mere centimeters away when the pounding of steps sounded out to them from a flight down. Bellamy froze while Clarke jumped back. Her face looked confused, staring at him wide eyed. A few seconds passed and the traitors that interrupted them came into view.

“Hey guys!” a slurred Octavia called out to them. “I came to save you!” she pointed to Clarke with a purse.

“Oh, my purse.” Clarke’s voice came out shaky. She quickly cleared it. “Thank you, Tavia. I didn’t notice I left it until we got here.”

“Have you guys been waiting around this whole time?” Miller came out from behind Octavia, looking over at Bellamy. At his nod, his friend drew his lips into a thin line, thankfully not commenting on their close position. 

Bellamy stood up and grabbed Clarke’s purse. He turned to her and raised his eyebrows, silently asking if he could fish in it. She understood and nodded her permission. 

He got the door opened and let Miller wheel a drunk Octavia in. Clarke followed silently behind them, biting her lip.

“Where’s everyone else?”

Miller counted them all off for him. “Wick and Raven went to his place, she says not to wait up for her. Monty, Jas and Maya are all in their place. We just got back from there. And Murphy hooked up with some girl and is probably—wrapped up at the moment.”

“And Lincoln is helping close the club.” Octavia pouted. “Looks like it’s just you and me tonight, babes.” She had turned to Clarke and was now pulling her into a tight hug. Clarke rolled her eyes, but hugged her back.

“You are very drunk.”

“Yeah. Bellamy had bought a whole new bottle, which everyone managed to finish under an hour.” Miller explained. Octavia hiccupped into Clarke’s ear.

“Let’s get you to bed, O.” Bellamy didn’t like his sister being that drunk. He frowned at her, but she waved him off. Letting go of Clarke’s neck, she wrapped herself around him instead.

“You, big brother, need to not worry so much.”

“If I don’t, who will? Come on. Let’s go.” He marched her to her room. She didn’t complain, letting herself get swept away. Before he reached her door, he heard Clarke thanking Miller for watching over her friends.

“No problem” he responded. “They are fun. Wild. But fun.” Clarke laughed at that. “I’m glad you’re okay, Clarke.” He added.

He dumped his sister on her bed, then took off her shoes. He left her in her dress and tucked the blanket around her. Before he stepped away, she looked up at him expectantly.

“What?”

“You deserve better than a Harper. You deserve a Clarke in your life.” Her eyelids fluttered shut as she yawned, already rolling away from him. “Please try and remember that.”

Bellamy didn’t know where that had come from, but it made him pause. How had she known about Harper?

He backed into the hallway and closed her door quietly.

“You could slam that door, and she still wouldn’t wake up.” Clarke was leaning against her doorframe. Bellamy faced her slowly. She took a deep breath, then said, “Thank you.” It came out as a whisper.

He stepped closer to her. She took a small step back, her back up against her door. Bellamy loomed over her, noting their height difference. His lips reached her forehead perfectly. Bringing up his arm, he ran one finger down her jaw line. Her skin was silky smooth. She shivered lightly, but kept her eyes on him sharply. 

“Goodnight Princess.” He said softly, not moving away from her.

He could see her swallow. “Goodnight Bellamy.” Clarke reached behind her, finding the doorknob without looking. She slowly stepped away from him and back into her room.

 

Miller was still standing in the living room when he went back.

“Everything good?” he asked.

“Everything’s great.” Bellamy couldn’t contain the huge grin breaking out across his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To those who celebrate it, HAPPY EASTER.  
> To those who don't, HAPPY SUNDAY.
> 
> <3


	6. Clarke Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hang overs suck. But not when you have friends like these.

When Octavia drank, she needed to sleep at least an entire day to recover. She wished she had the ability to avoid hang over’s, but sadly, that power remained with Raven and Bellamy. They were the only two people she knew who weren’t touched by ailments the next day. Most days, Octavia allowed herself to stay bound to her bed. But not today.

She woke up early. Or early ish. Waking up, her room spun into focus. The rush of memories from the previous night came to her suddenly. Without hesitation, she threw her legs over the side of her bed. Then stumbled because the room hadn’t stopped spinning.

“Knew you’d be awake.” She grumbled to a level-headed Raven, who sat up in the couch eating a bowl of cheerios.

Raven didn’t look shocked at Octavia’s early rising. “I already placed an order at Clarke’s favorite deli for the large chicken tomato soup and her signature sub. You need to work on deserts and movies. I borrowed all of the blankets from the boys and Wick, so we can turn the living room into our giant bed. Oh, I also made coffee and there’s two advils beside your mug. You look like you need it.”

Octavia grabbed Raven’s cereal bowl and placed it on the coffee table in front of her. Then she jumped her friend.

They all had a ritual. When one of them was down, the other two would spend the entire day doing what comforts the affected roommate. For example, the time Octavia had dated a guy who ended up being a jerk, her comfort day involved retail shopping, frozen yogurt and a week course of martial arts. When Raven and Wick had a fall out in the beginning of their relationship, her day consisted of junk yard bargains, and a sci-tech movie while she sat in the middle of the living room assembling some contraption with a lot of little pieces. 

“Alright, alright. Stop slobbering all over me.” Raven feigned disgust, but the smirk on her face said otherwise. “Let’s go wake up Clarke.”

“Wait, Raven.” Octavia paused. “Are you—“

“Hey, don’t worry about me. I made peace with Finn. He was family way before he was anything else. What he did was wrong, yeah, but I am okay. Plus, I have Wick. He makes it easy to slay my demons.” Still, Raven hugged her. “Thanks for asking. But today is Clarke’s day.”

“You are invincible, Raven Reyes. Now, come on!” Octavia was proud of her friend. Raven always kept her head up, regardless. Both girls made their way quietly down the hall. Pushing open Clarke’s door slowly, they realized she was waking up, stirring slightly. They crept in wordlessly and positioned themselves around her. 

Her eyes fluttered open, landing on her two friends. Then she groaned and ducked her head under the blankets. “Let me guess. Clarke’s day?” her voice was muffled, but still audible.

“You got it, babes. Get your butt into the living room.” Raven snatched the blanket away.

“Food, movies, blankets. We are set.” Octavia leaned over to catch Clarke’s hand. She had begun to cover her face with it, but Octavia was having none of that. 

“Fine. I know you monsters will not let up. Can I at least change?”

“It’s a pj party, Clarke.” Raven looked at her like, you should know this by now.

“But you’re dressed.”

“I’ll change back into mine in a bit. I couldn’t leave Wick’s in my sleeping clothes.” She pretended to look mortified. “Woulda been the walk of shame. Plus I have to go get the food.”

“I’m in pj’s. Does that count for something?” Clarke looked over at Octavia, her face softening. 

“Alright. That makes it better.” She smiled at her.

 

They were finally sitting in the living room, blankets drawn around their legs with a coffee firmly between their hands. Raven had already left to pick up the food. Octavia kept sneaking peeks at Clarke, not wanting to ask her first if she was okay. Clarke had a way of speaking when she was ready, and not a minute sooner. Instead, she checked her phone for any messages.

There were several notifications. One was from facebook. Maya added a picture of them. It was taken in the hallway outside of Jasper and Monty’s. They had to get the neighbor to take the picture so they could all pose. Octavia stood between Bellamy and Miller. Murphy was hovering in the corner, looking dejected. Jasper, Maya and Monty were arm in arm along the wall, grinning widely at the camera. Clarke was beside Bellamy, with Raven on her other side. She looked closer at Clarke and her brother. 

She hadn’t been surprised when he had offered to take Clarke home last night. She recalled advising him to flirt with her to get Finn mad, but he hadn’t flirted with her the way he usually did with other girls. He genuinely looked—happy talking to Clarke. Octavia had no idea how Clarke didn’t pick up on that, yet. She was normally sharp and observant. 

And he had stepped in the way when Finn grabbed Clarke. Octavia had been watching the whole thing with Raven, squeezing her friends arm when Bellamy protected Clarke. She might have even squeaked with approval. 

“Did you see the picture Maya posted?” Clarke brought her out of her musing. She was looking down at her phone. Her expression was a mix of amusement and fondness.

“We all look great.” Octavia added. “I seriously loved the dress you lent me.”

“Aw, we do. How did it go with Lincoln? Did he get to meet your brother?” 

Octavia shook her head. “No, Lincoln got held up. He didn’t show until we were playing truth or dare. And then Bellamy was AWOL, and when he did show up, you two left. But it’s fine.” She added quickly. Clarke’s face had fallen. “We were all drunk by then. I had wanted him to get drunk with us, but he should meet Bellamy while everyone is sober. I’ll just set it up better next time.”

“I’m seriously sorry, Tavia.” Clarke apologized quickly, before she could stop her. 

“Not your fault Clarke. Was my brother nice to you on the way over here?” she changed the subject, walking into the very think she was itching to know. If Clarke didn’t want to talk about Finn, she would have to talk about Bellamy.

At her question, Clarke blushed lightly but kept her face neutral. “He was nice.” She said simply.

“Just nice?”

“What else can I say? He really was nice. The sarcastic jerk didn’t pop up, so that’s good.”

“You guys were waiting outside for a long time.”

“Yeah.”

“Oh my god, Clarke.” Octavia glared at her evasive friend.

“What?!”

“I need you to spill.”

Clarke threw her head back. “Tavia, he is your brother. I can’t gush to you about this confusion, because you are directly related to the guy.” Straightening up her head, she looked over at Octavia with a frown. “Plus, nothing happened. He really was just being nice.” She shrugged. “He’s only helping because I am your friend.”

Octavia scooted closer, placing her hand over Clarkes. “Dude, my brother is smitten with you. He did more than he was supposed to. Taking care of you because you’re my friend? Anyone else at that table could have done it, but instead, he did. What does that say?”

“He made out with Harper before taking me home.” Clarke shot back. “What does that say?”

At this, Octavia shut her mouth. She had almost forgotten about that. Frowning, she seems to recall telling her brother something about Harper before blacking out.

“Exactly. Tavia, Its okay. It’s not like I expected anything to happen. No harm, no foul. Okay?”

Octavia glared at her a bit more, before softening her face. Looks like she had her work cut out for her. “I’ll drop it. For now.” Clarke smiled, patting her hand contently.

“Thank you. Now what movies did you guys pick out?”

Before she could answer, the door rattled. Raven must have gotten there already. Which is amazing time, since the deli was almost twenty minutes away. Octavia stood up to help her carry in the food, but the person walking in through the door was not Raven.

It was her brother.

“What are you doing here?” Bellamy stopped short at the sight of her. Octavia took in his appearance. He was already showered, and to her amusement, he attempted to tame his curls. She held back her snorts with great difficulty.

“Uhh—I brought you breakfast?” he held up a huge box. Cups of coffee were balanced on top of the box.

“That’s a huge box for just me.” She raised her eyebrow at him.

“Well—it’s for everyone.”

“Everyone?”

“Yeah.” He fidgeted. 

“Your hair looks nice.” She said simply before turning away from her brother.

 

“Raven, where’s the food? I am— Oh.” Clarke came in from the living room, expecting to see her soup. Instead, she was faced with the Blake siblings. “Hey, Bellamy. What are you doing here?” he was standing by the door carrying a white box, one hand ruffling his hair around.

“Oh, he’s brought you breakfast.”

“Uh, I brought everyone breakfast.” Bellamy corrected quickly, turning slightly pink.

“Yeah. Sorry. He brought us breakfast.” Octavia had a huge smirk on her face, but Clarke didn’t pay too much attention to it, going straight for the box. Inside were bagels, croissants and several Danish’s. Her mouth watered at the scent. She leaned in and inhaled deeply.

“Oh my god, this smells delicious.” Her hang over made her feel queasy, but all this breaded pieces of heaven would help that go away. Octavia giggled behind her. She turned to face her friend, catching Octavia peeking up at Bellamy. He was smirking at her. The only reason Clarke didn’t feel defensive at that moment was because he looked sincerely happy. She wondered what the occasion was.

“Save some for me, Clarke. Stop hogging the box up. After all,” Octavia batted her eyelids in an innocent manner. “It was for everyone.”

They made Bellamy stay with them, Octavia hauling him to the living room. Clarke was the one who yelled for him to kick off his shoes before stepping on their makeshift bed.

“Did you guys rob a blanket store?” Bellamy opened his eyes in mocked horror, stepping around gingerly until he reached the couch.

Clarke snorted, then plopped herself on the other couch that ran perpendicular to his. “Yeah, and now that you’ve caught onto us, we have to kill you.”

“As if you could. Would be fun to watch though.”

“I don’t know. I have baby Blake on my side. And Raven when she arrives. We are indestructible.”

“What? You can’t take me on your own? You need a crew?” 

She broke off a piece of her Danish and threw it at him. “Shut up.”

“You’re getting crumbs all over the stolen blankets, Princess.” Still, he picked up the piece of pastry from his lap and popped it into his mouth. Winking at her he says, “Is that all you got?”

“You don’t even know, Blake.” Her voice came out silkily. Whoa, is she flirting with him?

“I’d like to.” Whoa, is he flirting back? His eyes were crinkled in the corners with amusement, waiting for her response.

She had none, but she grinned widely at him and winked back. His smile stretched to match hers as he sat back to examine her. At that moment, Octavia returned from the kitchen, followed by Raven, Jasper and Monty.

“Look what I brought.” Raven called out to her in a sing-song voice. “I found them on their floor looking lost.”

“We don’t look lost. We look hungover. How are you even functioning?” Monty groaned, while Jasper nodded his head solemnly. Raven simply chuckled, arching an eyebrow.

“Figured today would be a Clarke day. Thought we would join in. You know, since you stole all our blankets, we have nothing to comfort us.”

“Oh, you baby criers.” Octavia chided. “You might as well stay here.”

“You all can join in the cuddling session that will most likely be ensuing.” Clarke added.

“Bellamy was going to be a part of the cuddling session?” Jasper waggled his eyebrows at Bellamy’s direction.

“When did you get here, Blake?” Raven looked at him curiously.

“Oh, you didn’t hear? My big brother is in the delivery service.” Octavia stated, trying to hold back her laugh. 

“What does he deliver?” Monty asked.

“Breakfast to the hungover.”

Bellamy grumbled. “I am never doing anything nice for you again, O.”

 

After more food was ordered and properly distributed, they all sat around in the living room/giant bed. They decided to make today a horror flick day. Netflix was brought out on the tv and they each took turns debating over which movie to watch first. They made an order, that way there would only be one argument regarding what to watch next. 

Clarke was the one who went to her room, returning with a sheet of paper, writing down in neat print the list of flicks. Bellamy couldn’t help but chuckle at her organized manner. She shot him a glare, but it didn’t hold enough malice. 

They watched The Houses October Built (“That was the dumbest ending ever.” Octavia stated sourly, that being the movie she had chosen.”), the remade Carrie (“They ventured far away from the original movie.” Clarke frowned whenever a scene was different than the original.), Oculus (Everyone agreed the ending sucked.), and Insidious 2 (“Not as good as the first one, but it was aight.” Said Raven.).

After that movie binge, they decided to order pizza. Bellamy could never wrap his mind around the amount of food these girls took in. They had cleaned out the box of pastries he had brought, Clarke reluctantly shared her soup, and the subs Raven brought flew out of the bag and into their hands so quickly, it might have been humanly impossible.

The embarrassing moment from the morning was long forgotten. Thank god, he thought. His sister was making it clear she knew what he was up to while he was trying to feign ignorance. He had honestly brought them all breakfast, but he hadn’t expected them to be awake. Bellamy was simply going to leave the pastries and coffee on the bar for them to find. He had also brought them medicine and bottled waters, but thankfully, he left that in his truck. 

Bellamy had secretly hoped that Clarke would be awake. He was more than sure Octavia would be knocked out. Growing up, she slept like a rock after a long night. He figured that, plus her hang over would be enough to have her sleep until next week. But his luck ran out in their hallway last night.

“Pizza is on its way.” Octavia called out, dropping back on the couch next to him.

“What do we do now?” Monty asked. He had wrapped himself in a blanket, resembling a burrito, and laid in the middle of the living room.

“I still feel nauseous.” Clarke moaned, dropping her head on Raven’s shoulders.

“Same.” Most of them agreed. Bellamy and Raven met gazes, both of them sealing their lips shut. They were the only ones not affected.

“I am never drinking again.” Jasper promised. This brought a round of laughter from everyone.

“That is not possible.” Raven pointed a finger at him. “You are the Moonshine god. Alcohol is your life.” Jasper shrugged at that comment, trying not to look pleased, but failing.

“Fine, but I’m not drinking for a long while.” 

Bellamy chuckled as everyone agreed to that. “Maybe I am not the only old person in this room.”

“You are old.” Octavia mumbled.

“You all used to drink everyday growing up. Now, one night has you down in the dumps. Face it, O. You’re aging.” She turned to glare at him, punching him sharply on the arm. He had taught her how to punch, so it sure like hell hurt.

“Remember that time we all got drunk after our junior prom?” Monty poked his head out of his burrito, aiming his question at Octavia

“Oh my god, while we were at the park?”

“And Bellamy had to come get us because we were ‘lost.’”

“When we were just down the street.”

Jasper cracked up. “I honestly could not recognize where we were at!”

Bellamy moaned. “That was the night you three threw up on my truck.” He remembered that night perfectly. He hadn’t gotten the smell off his baby for weeks after.

Octavia turned to look at Raven and Clarke to explain. “We didn’t want to sit inside of the truck, so he sat us on the bed. It was all fine until he started driving. Then I had to throw up. I tried to puke over the edge, but the wind kind of threw my vomit back at us.” She cringed at the memory.

“And that’s when we threw up.” Added Jasper. “When Bellamy parked, he didn’t even see us covered in each other’s vomit. All he saw was his truck.”

“’What the hell did you do?’” Octavia mimicked Bellamy’s angry tone perfectly. Everyone laughed loudly at this. Even he grinned at the memory.

“You guys were lucky to have each other.” Raven said softly when their laughter subsided. “I wish I had a group of friends to get drunk with growing up.”

“Same.” Agreed Clarke.

“You guys didn’t have drinking buddies?” Bellamy asked. Clarke had said she had no one growing up. Did that extend to no friends either?

“Na.” Raven answered first. “To be honest, I didn’t drink until I met this group here. Clarke and Octavia got me drunk first. Then I met Jasper and his moonshine, and now I can lead an alcoholic meeting.” 

“My friends were all stuck up snotty bitches.” Clarke stated simply. “I had one childhood friend who would probably have drunk with me if I had asked him, but—it never happened.” She shrugged. Raven squeezed her hand lightly. Bellamy sensed there was more to that story, but he didn’t ask.

“So you didn’t drink?” That question was better suited, he figured.

“Oh, I drank. Just not with cool people like this.” Clarke flashed a grin at them all, her eyes landing lastly on Bellamy, including him in her statement. He felt himself warm up with the compliment.

“Well, now you have us.” Octavia stood up and went to sit beside the two girls. She kissed them both exaggeratedly around their faces. They tried pushing her off half-heartedly before giving up fully an accepting his sisters show of affection.

 

Clarke seriously could not ask for better friends. The whole situation of the night previously seemed to recede to the far corner of her brain. The sadness and confusion faded away at the sight of all her people congregating around her.

They spent the day being lazy, binge watching Netflix and eating their way through a weeks-worth of breakfast items. Now they were lounging around talking, waiting for the pizza to arrive. She couldn’t wait for the pizza; Clarke was starving.

Bellamy showing up warmed her up inside as well. Octavia had pulled her to the side, whispering that he had showed up for Clarke, not her. When she tried waving Octavia off, she grabbed her by the shoulders.

“Bellamy knows my schedule. I should be asleep right now and the only reason I’m not is because of Clarke day. But how would he know about Clarke day? If it were for me, he’s have waited until I woke up, so whatever he brought me would still be warm.”

Clarke’s heart leapt a bit at her words. She bit her lip and looked over at Bellamy lounging on their living room bed. Was he here for her?

“Whatever, Tavia. Let’s go watch some Netflix.” Her friend didn’t protest, merely following her back.

 

Now, as they sat around, she couldn’t help but to peek at Bellamy. He was listening to Jasper, Monty and Octavia talk about their past. His face was alight with amusement, the crinkles around his eyes made them jump more merrily. Sitting next to Octavia, she could see their similarities were more obvious. Same dark hair, same smile and same eyes. It was cute, she thought.

The doorbell rang while Octavia was attacking her and Raven.

“Oh thank god. Food!” the three girls ran for the door.

“You all just ate.” Bellamy hollered after them, exasperation dripping from his voice.

“Shut it, Bell.” Octavia yelled back.

Opening the door, a young man stood there, carrying their four extra-large pizzas, wings, bread sticks and sodas. He looked down at all the food, then back up at them in confusion.

“Yes, you are in the right apartment.” Raven said bluntly before he could ask. 

“We order from you guys all the time.” Clarke added.

“Why do you guys always look surprised?” Octavia finished for her. Then they all broke out in laughter at themselves. Raven took the pizzas, Octavia the wings and breadsticks and Clarke took the sodas.

“You can come in.” she told the delivery guy, who stood there looking dazed at them. “We’ll pay you inside.”

“Everyone pitch in.” Raven yelled from the kitchen, already taking out a slice. Monty, Jasper and Bellamy shuffled in, Monty still wrapped in his cocoon. They all deposited a few bills in Clarke’s hand before going off to get their food. Bellamy was the last to give her the money. His hand lingered over hers for a moment. She looked up at him, feeling her face warm up.

“Your total will be 67.58.” The delivery guy interrupted awkwardly. The moment was broken as Bellamy’s mouth popped open.

“You all ordered seventy bucks worth of food?!” He looked at her with wide eyes.

Clarke merely shrugged, holding back her laugh. “It happens.” She said simply, turning to the guy. “Here you go. You can keep the change.” The guy accepted the money, said a cheery goodbye and headed out the door. She followed and closed the door behind him.

“How are you –“ he waved his arm at her body. She looked down at herself and frowned.

“How am I what?” she asked self-consciously, crossing her arm over herself.

“Oh, no. I didn’t mean it like that.” He said quickly. “I just meant you eat your weight in food and still manage to look—decent.”

“Decent.” her voice came out flat.

“Well, sometimes better than decent. I mean—it’s not bad, you know. You’re fine. I mean—not fine fine. Or yeah, fine fine.. just—I’m going to shut up now because my foot found a way to my mouth and anything I add now will just worsen the situation for me.”

Clarke giggled, then walked passed him. “You’re not as smooth as your reputation says you are, Blake.” 

He snorted behind her and said quietly, “Now of all times, huh.” He said it softly enough that she knew he hadn’t meant for her to hear it at all. As she walks away, she tried to bite back the grin plastered on her face, but failed miserably.

The rest of the day consisted of pizza slices, Netflix, talks and cuddles. And Clarke couldn’t be happier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I've noticed; I am an emotional mute. I don't know how to be cute and cuddly. Someone help me with the cute scenes. I am bomb at the emotional backstories of woes and sorrows, but I can't do the lovey dovey thing.  
> My tumblr is page2me. If anyone wants to help with the mushy stuff, message me there.   
> If not, then I will be binge watching cheesy stuff from Netflix and see what I can absorb.   
> Thanks for reading so far!


	7. Pouring Rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last day before vacation, and it couldn't go better.

“See you later, Jim!”

“Later, Clarke. Enjoy your vacation. Remind Raven and Octavia to stay safe. I want my employees back in one piece. Rehiring is a bitch.”

Clarke scoffed at her manager, gave him one final wave and then headed out into the night. Two weeks had passed since the Finn incident. Her last day of work ended two hours ago, but she stayed behind to help clean up since one of her coworkers left early.

It was already late, going onto two in the morning. Octavia and Raven worked a morning shift today, leaving in the afternoon, but Clarke had done her last double shift. She was tired, cranky, hungry but so excited that they would be leaving the following day.

She reached her Jeep, and fished into her purse to take out her keys. Rummaging around, she couldn’t find it. Frowning, she dropped her purse on the hood and ravaged in it more thoroughly. Still, she couldn’t find them. Turning her bag upside down, she threw all her stuff out. Nothing.

Where did she leave them? She tried to remember, thinking hard at what she did before getting off her car. Obviously she brought them with her. Freezing, Clarke turned to look at the driver’s door. Walking slowly, she leaned down and peeked through the window. Yep.

Throwing her arms up, she yelled to the sky. “My fucking LUCK.” The keys were neatly tucked into the ignition still. Trying the handle, but already knowing the result, she confirmed they were locked. Clarke still tried the remaining doors before moving to the back. Everything locked tight.

Sighing, she fished out her phone. At least she had that. She called Raven first. She was the best at breaking into her Jeep, since losing keys was Clarke’s specialty. It rang, but then went to voicemail. Ugh. Next she called Octavia.

“Hello?”

“Octavia! Hey, oh thank god. Where’s Raven?” she suddenly pulled the phone away from her ear. Wherever Octavia was at, loud music pounded, flowing through to hit her eardrum.

“Hello? Clarke? I can’t hear you. Yell for me.” 

“I locked myself out of my car. I need Raven. Or a ride.” Clarke looked around her, making sure no one was looking at her yell into her phone like an idiot.

“What? You’re stranded? Where?” she could hear voices on Octavia’s side, laughter and yelling.

“At The Grounders. I just got out of work.”

“Okay. Sit tight. I’ll go get you.” 

Frowning, Clarke asked. “Are you drunk?” Octavia’s voice sounded slurred and breezy. Of course. “Where is Raven?”

“Just—sit tight, babe. On our way.” Clare hung up. She had said ‘we’ meaning wherever Octavia was at, Raven was probably with her. And if there is drinking involved, Wick was there as well. Someone would have to be sober enough to come get her.

Thunder rumbled overhead.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me!” Nope. Not kidding. A sprinkle started up, then it gained momentum, turning into an outright downpour in less than ten minutes. She tried taking cover under a small canopy, but the rain was coming down in a slant, soaking her through in under a few minutes.

Twenty minutes later, a roaring made her lift her head. Coming down the road towards her was Bellamy’s faded red truck. Of course Bellamy had been with his sister. And of course he would be the one sober enough to get her, on the day that she looked like a drowned cat who lost her keys by being negligent. Of course he’d look so fucking handsomely beautiful as he rolled down the window to make sure it was her.

“Get in the truck, Princess.” He yelled at her over the sound of pouring rain. She swiped away her wet hair from her face, stood up taller and yanked open his door. Sliding in, the leather of the truck squeaked in protest at her wet clothing.

“Shit, I am getting your truck wet, Bellamy.”

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it, Clarke.” A thrill ran through her, but it took her a minute to realize it was because he finally said her name. “What happened to your Jeep?” 

Sniffling, she turned her face away from him, addressing the passenger window when she replied. “I left my keys in the ignition and locked the doors.”

He barked out a laugh. “Well that was smart.” She stiffened at his words, throwing him a glare.

“Don’t scold me. The rain already did a number on me, alright?” Clarke shivered violently at that moment, her teeth rattling. She crossed her arms over herself, glaring out the window in silence. A moment later, she felt something warm being passed to her.

“Here.” Unfolding the material he handed to her, she saw it was a pull over sweater. It was a dark grey color, and across the front the words ‘try harder’ were stamped in black lettering. It was almost unnoticeable, unless you really tried to read what was said. Ha, she got it. “You should take off your shirt.” Clarke snapped her eyes away from the sweater to stare at him in astonishment. He realized his choice of words a second later, adding hastily, “To put on that sweater, I mean.” He turned to look at her, his face honest and open. “So you don’t catch a cold.”

 

Bellamy cringed internally. God damn him and his wordings. 

Clarke seemed to look past his badly phrased sentence, inhaling deeply. “That would be my luck, huh. A cold the night before vacation starts.” She sniffled sadly. “Turn around and don’t look or I’ll punch you in the throat.” Her warning was heated.

“I think I like my voice box. I’d like to keep it functioning.” He knew she’d keep her promise. So he averted his gaze to the road ahead. As she started to move around, he focused on the streets. The weather channel had said there was a chance of rain, but it was a slim chance. Well, not so slim, he thought. He could barely make out the road, driving less than thirty miles to make sure they got home safe.

“So where is Octavia and Raven?” Clarke’s voice sounded muffled. From the corner of his eye, he saw her lift her shirt over her head.

“Uh—floor party. Everyone got fliers jammed under their doors.”

“Ha, those are always fun. Which floor was it?”

“The seventh. It is pretty fun, actually. You’ll be arriving to very drunk friends.” He warned her. When he left, Jasper had brought out their second Moonshine. Not to mention, the kegs that were already there and the mixed drinks people were experimenting with.

Clarke laughed. “I bet. How’d you get wrangled into going? I’m done, by the way.” A quick glance at her confirmed it. Thank god for red lights, he thought, as he took in a wet Clarke in his sweater and shorts. She was pulling her hair out of her face and over one shoulder, trying to dry it in front of the vents. He leaned forward to turn on the warmer air.

“Well, Murphy began dating some girl from your building. Guess he met her that night at the club. So he told me about it. But I was already at O’s, making sure she packed for tomorrow. I don’t want to be waiting around while she throws things into bags minutes before we need to leave. Which she always does.”

She agreed with him. “Oh yeah. You know Tavia. Always the last one to be ready. Even for a trip out to the store. Still. It’s what makes her Octavia.” She chuckled fondly. “Who is Murphy dating? Maybe I know her.”

“Some girl named Monroe, I think.”

Bellamy saw Clarke physically stiffen. He turned to look at her, confused at her reaction. Maybe they don’t like each other. 

“Oh.” Was all she said.

“So you do know her.” that much was obvious.

Clarke paused for a moment, then stated. “That’s Harper’s best friend. And roommate”

Bellamy was still confused. He knew who Harper was. How could he forget that experience? But then he remembered what Octavia told him that night. ‘You deserve better than a Harper.’ He had forgotten to ask her what she meant by that. The next day had been ‘Clarke Day’ and he just didn’t remember when he had finally hung out with his sister alone.

“So, do you and Murphy double date?” Clarke asked softly. It looked like she was trying to keep her face light. He had noticed how she would clear her face of any lingering emotion when something came up that she didn’t want to talk about. Like her family, or old friends. Anything involving her past, really. That’s when he knew there was more to the story than she was letting on.

Her words threw him off though. “Double date?” the confusion was clear in his voice, making Clarke look up at him sharply. Her face turned doubtful after a moment.

“Yeah, didn’t you two hook up at the club that night?”

Bellamy laughed loudly at this. He couldn’t help it. What happened between Harper and himself was far from a hook up. She must have thought he was laughing at her, because Clarke’s frown returned full throttle as she turned away from him again. They had already reached the apartment complex and he was already parallel parking. 

She tried opening the door to get off, when Bellamy realized she was being serious. He leaned over, grabbing the handle and closing the door firmly before she could slip away.

“Bellamy—“ Clarke turned to glare at him, but stopped short when she saw their proximity. He had slid closer to her to grab the door and now he found himself face to face with the blue eyed beauty.

“Hey,” he said softly. “I didn’t hook up with Harper. It was a misunderstanding. She wanted to, but as some vendetta to her ex.”

Clarke’s eyebrows drew down. “You mean you didn’t make out?”

He gazed in her eyes as he answered truthfully. “She wanted to have a drink. I said yes because I felt bad. Only one drink, then I tried to leave. She did kiss me, but I politely told her I wasn’t trying to go further.” He frowned suddenly. “Then she cried and told me about her ex and the whole thing was—weird.”

She stared back up at him in shock. Her blue eyes seemed bright, but she didn’t move. 

“You okay?” he asked slowly. Then she broke out in laughter. Clarke turned her entire body in his direction, moving an inch away from the door. She doubled over, holding onto her side.

“Harper cried?” she managed to ask through a fit of laughter. “After you—two kissed? And then she—told you about Will? That—is—hilarious.” Bellamy thought it was more horrific than funny, but her laughter was contagious. He began chuckling softly with her, then it grew, and by the time he realized it, he was roaring with laughter at the whole situation. 

When they finally were able to catch their breath, they realized the rain had let up slightly. They sat in silence for a moment, looking out the front window. It was a peaceful silence. But then he recalled all their other silences. It was always a comfortable pause with Clarke. He never found himself fidgeting in her presence. HER presence. When they were with other people, Bellamy didn’t seem to know how to act. But when it was just them, their words slipped out easily. Clarke seemed to flow with his conversations easily, lapsing into small silences that didn’t need to be filled with pretentious words.

“Are you ready for vacation?” she asked suddenly, her voice hushed.

“It is heavily needed.” He kept his voice as low as hers.

“I haven’t had a vacation in almost seven years.” The sadness echoed in the back of her throat.

Bellamy paused before telling her, “I’ve never had a vacation.” They had both been facing forward, arm to arm, looking out the window, but he felt her studying him. He didn’t turn to her. “Growing up, we didn’t really have money. Our dad was gone and our mom died when I was seventeen. Octavia had only been twelve. I worked, but money was always tight, you know? Then she began college, and those bills added up. That’s why I took the job at this scaffolding site. They pay great money, and the benefits were hard to pass up. Even though it meant separating from her.” He stopped talking, feeling like he said too much.

“I get it.” Clarke said after a small pause. “The consequences are easy to deal with when the reward is for your sister.” This time, Bellamy surveyed her. She had turned back to the window, biting her lip before talking again. “It’s hard to make other people happy. But not for you.” She met his stare. “You’re different. You don’t really look at yourself. It’s all for Octavia.” 

Bellamy’s heart stuttered in his chest. He had never thought of it that way. I mean—sure he had, but the way it came out of Clarke’s mouth made what he did sound better, more of an actual reason to be proud of himself. Maybe he would analyze it more later on, but right now he was enraptured with the blonde that sat next to him, staring at his soul. Okay, so that might be dramatic, he thought, but damn.

It was her biting her lip that made him crack. He grabbed her face between his hands gently but firm, pulling her to him. She came willingly, meeting his lips half way. A spark came from their collided mouths. He felt that spark travel down his neck, spreading out through his entire body, ending at his fingertips.

Clarke sighed into his mouth and it was heaven. He breathed her in, taking his fill. Her skin was silky under his hands. He could feel her face warm up at his touch. She shivered slightly, bringing her own hands up to his face. One hand reached to the back of his head and grabbed a fistful of his hair, tugging him closer to her while the other grabbed onto his shoulder.

He grazed his teeth against her lower lip, and when she jutted it out slightly, he grabbed onto it and bit down softly before running his tongue over his bite. She gasped, her mouth popping open in delight. Slipping in his tongue, she bravely accepted him there. 

The position they were in didn’t allow them to be as close as he would like. She seemed to be thinking the same thing, because she shifted, lifting herself up while staying connected to his mouth. Throwing a leg over, she straddled him. And damn him if he wasn’t turned on at her sudden boldness.

He sat up straighter, running his hand up the curve of her back, pulling her closer to his chest. She smelled of lavender, smoke from her job and chocolate. He was intoxicated with her scent. Her fingernails raked through his scalp, making him shiver.

He dropped his mouth onto her neck, trailing kisses along her jawline. She tilted her head back, eyes closed. A small hum vibrated out of her lips, but she didn’t stop it. Bellamy smiled against her skin, in love with that noise. He made her make that sound. Flicking his tongue against her pulse, she squirmed slightly on his lap. And that did wonders to him. 

Suddenly, a loud slam brought them out of their embrace. A group of people must have been coming out of the staircase. Bellamy could hear their loud, drunk voices. He prayed they would head away from them, but to his disappointment, the voices merely got louder. He looked up at Clarke. She was looking towards the voices with a frown. She turned to meet his gaze, her eyes still hooded and smoky. His grip on her hips tightened.

When the voices came from two cars down, he knew their moment was over. Clarke got up, reclaiming the seat beside him. He felt cold without her body heat, but he let her go without complaining. Still, he reached down to grab her hand. She looked down at their connected fingers, a small smile hovering around her face.

The traitorous bodies who interrupted them passed in front of his truck. Most of them didn’t notice Clarke and him, just two people who looked at them with a knowing grin. A guy gave him the thumbs up. 

Clarke groaned and dropped her head behind his arm. 

Chuckling, he turned to her. “Ready to go inside?”

“No.” she replied honestly, coming out from behind him. “But let’s go.” 

 

Before either of them had moved, Clarke’s stomach gave a loud growl. She had forgotten her own hunger during this truck ride. 

“Do you want to go get something to eat? I can go to a drive thru.” Bellamy offered.

“That sounds amazing, but I think we should go check on everyone. We do still have to drive in the morning.” She could not believe they were acting normal after that kiss. Her mind was still reeling. Holy fuck, Bellamy Blake’s mouth. Clarke was scared to stand up, not wanting to tremble in front of him. The cockiness he would feel at her quaking would give him an unfair advantage. Or maybe he’d feel the same way about her kiss, a small voice told her.

Shaking her head, she brought herself out of her thoughts. Bellamy was leaving the choice up to her, but Clarke knew she needed to go make sure all her friends were in the apartment, ready for their road trip.

“Come on, Blake. Let’s make sure your baby sister isn’t too inebriated.” He rolled his eyes at the idea that his sister was anything but, sliding out of his now opened door. 

They walked side by side up the stairs. At one point, Bellamy’s hand swung, his finger nudging one of hers. They slowly linked their fingers together, their two pinkies grasping the other. Clarke snuck a glance at him only to find him staring down at her as well. They both grinned like two idiots, ducking their heads down and keeping a silence.

On the third floor, they met up with a drunk Murphy. Dropping each other’s hands, they took a step away from each other before walking the rest of the way to Murphy. He was slightly pink in the face, his eyes glazed, but smiling. Tucked next to him was Monroe. She lived on the second floor, which is probably where they were heading.

“Don’t forget. We leave at 9A.M. sharp, Murphy.” Bellamy warned him.

“Yeah yeah, I’ll be there.” Murphy continued walking, waving a salute to Bellamy. Monroe glared at Bellamy with annoyance, her mouth set in a frown. She flicked her eyes over to Clarke, narrowing slightly. But then Murphy tugged on her waist and she tumbled alongside him, giggling breathlessly against his ear.

When they turned the corner, Clarke turned to look at Bellamy as they continued their way up. 

“Well, looks like you even got the best friend to hate you, Bellamy. That’s not an easy task to accomplish in only one night. I give you props.”

Bellamy barked out a laugh. “Oh yeah, Princess. That’s my specialty. They do say hate is as strong a passion as love is.”

Clarke snorted. “Whoever said that was a masochist.”

 

The party was still in full swing when they stepped into the seventh floor. The air hung heavy with cigarette smoke. The hallway was jammed with bodies. Some of the apartments had opened up, allowing throngs of college students in. Clarke felt someone grab her wrist, but at the familiarity of that hand, she knew it was just Bellamy making sure he wouldn’t lose her.

“They were in this apartment when I left.” He bent down to say these words in her ear over the music. He tugged her in some direction. She simply followed the guiding of his hand, his back always within reach. Entering an apartment, the noise outside dimmed a bit, allowing individual voices to be heard better. From the back came a loud cheering noise. Without needing to turn, she knew it was their group.

“Yay, Clarke and Bellamy are here!” Octavia hugged Clarke, pulling her close.

“Hey babe, you partying without me?” she pretended to look hurt.

“It’s no fun without you. Pinky promise.” Octavia held up her pinky, eyes dropping to Clarke’s hand. Her friend gasped, dropping her arm as she stared at Clarke and Bellamy’s still clasped hands, her eyes moving up to take in Bellamy’s large sweater on her frame. They quickly let go.

“No, Octavia, don’t—“ she was saved by the rush of the rest of her friends, running to greet her. 

“Hey you, glad you came.” Raven nudged her shoulder. Clarke noted the small blush on Raven’s cheek. It meant she was drunk, yes, but not too drunk. She managed to have some control tonight.

“I did need to come check on my roadies.”

Monty, Jasper and Maya groaned at that nickname. “For the last time Clarke,” Monty said firmly. “We are not going to call each other roadies.”

“It’s fucking cute, okay?”

Octavia stepped forward lightly. Clarke cringed internally, but she merely smiled at her. “Enough with the nicknames. Let’s get Clarke drunk!” she yelled, raising her red cup up high. Everyone added their cheers in, turning back around to the room they had come out of. Octavia wrapped her hands around Clarke’s, pulling her to the room.

“Beer pong!” Clarke groaned. It was going to be impossible to get them all out alive tonight. She could already feel the delay this would cause on the road trip. Suddenly, Bellamy was beside her.

“So, about that challenge.” He smirked down at her, daring her to chicken out. 

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re on.”

“You guys need partners.” Maya called out.

“Yeah, pick your teammate.” Monty agreed.

“Aight, I’ll get Jasper.” Jasper jumped over to Bellamy quickly.

“I will make you proud.”

“Shut up and set the cups.”

“I choose Monty!” He looked shocked that she had chosen him, but he came to her side anyway. “You’re the best Mont. Don’t let me lose.”

 

“Listen here, Bellamy Blake.” Clarke yelled over the table at a smirking Bellamy. “That cheap shot does not count!”

“How does that not count?”

“Your elbow was past the table. That’s an automatic foul.” 

“It’s true.” Wick stated simply, Miller nodding in agreement. Bellamy scoffed, glaring at his friends.

“Fine, whatever.” Clarke watched him take a step back, aiming another shot and making it cleanly into a cup. “Is that better, Princess?” his smirk returned.

“That doesn’t count either! You made a shot when it was my turn. NO RE-DOS.”

 

Thirty minutes later, and Clarke only needed one more cup to win. Bellamy still needed two. Sadly, he made it into one of her cups, tying them up.

“Hold up. Sudden death match.” Jasper paused. Behind him, Lincoln approached with four large shot glasses. He set them down in the middle of the table and stepped away to allow Jasper to continue talking. The dramatics of it all made Clarke rear with laughter. “Shh, ears on me. We have reached the point of no return. Whoever sets their ping-pong ball into the others cup shall be victorious. Which of you has what it takes? Before finishing this epic battle, come to the center and claim your death match gift.” He gestured to the shot glasses. “Full glasses of delectable—“

“Can you shut up Jasper? Just take your damn shots already guys, I need to pee.” Raven croaked.

“Way to be a buzzkill, Reyes.” Jasper frowned at her. “Let’s take the shots.”

Still giggling, Clarke stepped forward and got a glass. She tipped it back quickly, placing the empty glass back in the center. When they were all done, they resumed the game. Bellamy went first, pausing slowly to take aim and he—missed! Yes! He missed.

Monty took a shot, narrowly getting it in, but it bounced off the rim of the cup. Next came Jasper, she held her breath as he shot and missed as well. Now it was her turn. She bounced lightly in place, taking a deep breath, holding her arm out to try and map the course the ball would go. Then she made the mistake of looking up at Bellamy.

His gaze on her was dark. His lips were full and puckered up in a half smile. She remembered the feel of them on her neck and she shivered lightly. His face lit up with amusement as he took in her shiver, his smirk turned knowing. Steeling herself, she kept her eyes locked with his as she took aim—and made it into the cup!

“Whoo, Clarke and Monty are the winners!” Octavia leapt up from Lincolns lap, running over to high five Clarke. She stumbled slightly, but regained her balance before she could drag them both down.

“Whoa.” Clarke felt the majority of Octavia’s weight thrown on her. “Hey, Tavia. I think it’s time we all go home.”

“I think you’re right babes.” She leaned in closer to Clarke, stage whispering. “I think I might be drunk.”

Clarke snorted. “Yeah, just a bit probably.”

Raven stumbled her way to them as well. “Nice shot, Griffin. Guess my paint balling lessons are teaching you aim.” 

“All my talents derive from you, Ray.” Clarke smiled fondly at her friend. “You ready to go home?”

“Hell yeah. Let me go get Wick. Hey Bellamy, I think you and Lincoln should flip heads on who carries Tav home.” Snorting again, Clarke turned to look at both men. Bellamy had met Lincoln a while back. Octavia said they seemed to like each other. The few times they had hung out, Bellamy seemed nice enough and Lincoln genuinely seemed to find whatever he and Bellamy talked about interesting. Now they were staring at each other awkwardly, not knowing who would continue taking care of Octavia.

“Nice Raven. Pit them up against each other.” Clarke called after Ravens receding figure.

Octavia giggled. “No one has to carry me. I didn’t drink that much. I just haven’t eaten, when I should have.”

“Well, let’s go home. I am starving as well.”

Octavia steered over to Bellamy, linking her arm with his and pulling him towards Lincoln. She linked her other arm through his, creating a small three-person chain. 

“Both my boys.” She smiled fondly up at the faces of her exasperated brother and boyfriend.

 

An hour later, Octavia and Clarke were seated on the bar stools as Bellamy flew around their kitchen, cooking them up grilled cheese sandwiches. She didn’t know what it was about that man in her kitchen, but he seemed so much more—hot in the tiny space. She watched him, sipping on a water bottle. Now that she let herself ogle him, she took in his chest. Being pressed up against him tonight yielded hard, toned muscles under his thin shirt. 

She always knew he was fit, but when her fingers traced his shoulders, she had felt his bunched up muscles rolling under her fingertips. She followed the curve of it now with her eyes. He was hunched over the stove, flipping the pieces of bread every so often. His dark hair was its usual ruffled style. They had been smoother than she had imagined, running her hand through it felt like running her hand over satin. 

And then his hands, wide and freckled slightly. It made her shiver just staring at them now, one holding the pan, the other holding a spatula.

“You are eye fucking my brother.” Clarke jumped. She hadn’t noticed Octavia leaning into her. Her mouth connected with her ear, speaking these words for only Clarke to hear.

“Wha—No I’m not.” Octavia snickered, before turning to torment her brother.

“Hey Bell, isn’t this your high school sweater? I thought it was a taboo for anyone to wear it.” 

Bellamy kept his stance relaxed as he answered. “That was in high school, O. Now it’s just a sweater and Clarke needed to borrow it. Who is ready for some grilled cheese?” he swirled around, pan in hand, to deposit the delicious food and oh my god, Octavia’s pestering aside, she was starving, digging in automatically before the cheese even cooled off.

“Mmmm.” Octavia was in the same bliss as Clarke. The two girls looked at each other, grinning around a bite full of the sandwich. “It tastes like my childhood.” Octavia said wistfully. She turned to look at Lincoln, who was sitting silently beside her. He was the smarter one, allowing his food to cool down before jumping on it. 

 

They stayed up a small while longer. Sleep was already tugging at her, and as much as she wanted to talk to Bellamy in private, she knew she wouldn’t outlast Octavia. She was practically nodding off into her empty plate before deciding to go to bed.

“Night Octavia.”

“You’re going to bed?” her friend looked at her suspiciously.

“We do have to be up in—“ checking her phone, she groaned. “Four hours. Oh-- I am going to die.” She flicked Octavia’s ear before turning to place her dish into the sink. Bellamy was already standing there, hand held out for the plate. They made eye contact, a flush creeping up her neck at his steady gaze. 

“Night Bellamy.” Clarke was immensely glad at the steady level of her voice, turning away from him before he said anything.

In her room, she kept his sweater on, only taking of her shorts before climbing into bed. She grabbed her phone and put it on the charger, checking her notifications at the same time. She had a new friend request. Bellamy Blake. Grinning, she clicked on his profile. Scrolling down, she realized he never posted anything. How strange. Raven added a picture of her, requesting to tag her. The photo was technically from Instagram, but Raven uploaded it to Facebook and Twitter as well. She ignored those, checking it out on her Facebook. It was of their beer pong show down. Clarke and Monty were on one side. Clarke had her mouth drawn in concentration, contrasting heavily with the humor lining her eyes. Monty was in the middle of a shout, his mouth a small O.

Bellamy looked as handsome on photo as out. He was standing straight, arms crossed, watching Clarke make her shot. The look on his face was focused fully on her, eyebrows tugged down. Jasper was pointing at Monty in accusation, his face forming the complaint he later posted.

Chuckling to herself, she turned off her phone, rolling over. There was just something about tonight that was going to make her fall in love with the sound of rain. Surrounded in Bellamy’s scent, she drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had an epiphany of what is to come for all my babies. I am scared, but hopefully, it goes amazing.  
> UP NEXT: VAAACATION.


	8. Road trip

Bellamy only slept for three hours, waking up on the couch of his sisters living room. Miller was on the other sofa, snoring. He left him alone, walking over to put a pot of coffee to brew. He went into the bathroom, looking at himself in the mirror. His hair was sticking up in the back and he had bags under his eyes. Sighing, he looked away from his reflection. This was going to be a long day, he thought.

Raven was already seated in the kitchen when he went back. She had helped herself to some coffee and was simply scrolling through her phone, a bowl of cereal in front of her.

“Hey.” She greeted him without looking up.

“Hey.” He grunted back, still heavy with sleep.

“I see you and Clarke are finally friends on Facebook.” Bellamy turned away from her, pouring himself some coffee. He didn’t respond, but she pressed on. “About time. You all are behind schedule.”

“Schedule?”

“Yeah, Octavia’s grand scheme to get you and Clarke to fall madly in love with each other.” she looked him in the eye. “Or you’re telling me you didn’t realize that?”

“Octavia always has schemes. Most don’t fall through.” He shrugged. Raven looked at him skeptically. “What?” he said.

“Look here, Blake. I will only warn you once. If things do happen to fall through for your baby sister and you and Clarke end up—you know. Then you better be fucking careful with her. She is one of the only people I have, and I’ll be damned if you go in and hurt her. Every person in this house will be after you, Tavia included.”

Bellamy looked steadily at Raven. He could see the truth ringing behind her eyes. “She is really lucky to have all of you guys.” He said simply.

Raven scoffed. “We are lucky to have her. You don’t get it. When she came to us at first, she wasn’t the Clarke you see now. She was—withdrawn, always drawing, always alone. She didn’t talk to us enough. Even now, she barely admits her feelings, but when she does it is amazing.” Then Raven grinned at him. “You never know, Blake. Maybe you’ll be lucky too.”

“You think?” he asked before he could contain himself.

 

Raven’s face flickered, looking first shocked, then a realization at what he asked, then a mask to close up her emotions before he could confirm he had actually seen them. 

“Clarke cares about people. The right people. If you’re the right person, you’ll be lucky.” Then her face drew back her glare. “One mistake and I will cut you, Bellamy Blake.”

“You’re scary.” He mumbled.

“Yes, she is.” Wick came sauntering out of Raven’s room. He draped an arm over his girlfriend, bringing her in for a kiss. Bellamy looked away to give them privacy, pouring himself a second cup. 

A voice from the living room called out. “Is there any more coffee?” Miller was sitting up, peeking over the couch towards the kitchen. 

“Sorry, just ran out. Wait five minutes and there will be more.” Bellamy called back.

“What time are we leaving?” Wick asked, taking a bite of the cereal Raven had gotten herself. She shoved him playfully away, trying to get her spoon back to no avail.

“We’re supposed to leave at 9.”

“Well, what time is it?” Miller asked blearily, joining them at the kitchen. The clock said 8:20.

“We need to go wake everyone up.”

“We can split up.” Raven volunteered. “Wick and I can go get the boys and Maya. You can go wake up your sister and Clarke, while Miller loads up.”

“Murphy?” Miller asked.

“He’s somewhere on the second floor, with Monroe. I’ll call him right now.” Bellamy offered.

 

Just as Bellamy predicted, they were running late. He gave up trying to get them all out of the door on time. Octavia flew around her apartment in a predictable frenzy. Raven and Clarke left with Wick to bring back her jeep. Murphy was AWOL until Monty had to personally go to the apartment he was hiding out in and dragged him out.

After all their luggage was piled into the bed of Lincoln and Bellamy’s trucks, they all divided themselves into the vehicles. Monty, Jasper and Maya would ride with Miller. Bellamy and Murphy were in his truck. Clarke, Raven and Octavia were in the Jeep. Wick rode with Lincoln in his truck. 

Mount Weather was in the mountain terrain of California. They had to travel out of Oregon, the state that they lived in, and into California. GPS said the ride would be eighteen hours long. Blankets and pillows were distributed to the backseat drivers for comfort.

Finally, they were on their way. He looked over at Clarke standing near her jeep. She turned to meet his gaze at the same time. Silently, he wished her a safe drive. She took in his expression, smiling softly before nodding at him. He had wanted to talk to her on her own, but with the chaos of the morning, there had been no chance. Still, he was glad she always seemed able to understand what he was thinking just by looking at his face. He stayed watching her until she ducked into her vehicle.

 

Clarke had a feeling that her friends sent of their boyfriends to another vehicle solely to talk to Clarke alone. They didn’t make their move until well into the trip. For the first six hours of the trip, their car was full of Pandora, chips and the usual bickering. 

But of course, her luck wasn’t going to last the whole day.

“So, what happened with you and my brother last night?” from the driver’s seat, Clarke heard the last chip Raven bit into, then the silence that followed, meaning Raven stopped chewing just to hear her answer.

Which Clarke ignored. “He drove me home.” She said simply.

“Clarke, your face was red when you walked in. You both were looking at each other with these weirdly huge grins. And you wore his sweater! You have no idea how big of a deal that is.”

Despite her attempts at indifference, Clarke’s interest perked up. “Why is the sweater a big deal?”

“My mom bought him that sweater. They were always competing for the best puns. He got his morbid sense of humor from her. It is probably one of the last things she gave him. He held onto it this whole time. I tried getting near it once, and you should have seen the hissy fit he threw. Bellamy apologized later, but still.” 

Raven whistled from the back seat. “Damn. And Clarke got it in one night?”

Clarke didn’t know what to think. That made the sweater thing seem... huge. He had made it seem like it was a random sweater. 

“He still hasn’t asked for it back.” She turned to tell Octavia, looking at her friend through wide eyes. “What does that mean?”

“I’ve always wanted a sister. A sister-in-law will do.” Octavia pretended to look dreamily up to the ceiling of the jeep, a wide grin stretching across her face. Raven snorted, resuming her attack on her chips.

“So did you guys do anything?” Raven aimed for a nonchalant tone, but Clarke could feel her gaze burn a hole through the back of her head. A peek in the mirror confirmed it.

“Well—“ She began lamely. The two girls gasped, shifting closer to her. Clarke fidgeted nervously, sneaking a peek at Octavia to gauge her reactions. It was all too weird for her to imagine the possibility that Octavia was okay with her and her brother—doing what? She still hadn’t talked to him. “We kissed. But that’s all.” She told them hastily. 

“I knew it.” Octavia stated in triumph.

“No wonder he was all dreamy this morning before you woke up.” Raven scooted forward to poke her head out from the backseat. 

“You talked to him this morning?” Octavia turned to face Raven. “What did he say?”

Raven shrugged. “I gave him the speech.” At Clarke’s horrified groan, she continued. “Even if he is your brother, Tav, he needs to be warned. But if its any consolation, I went easy on him.”

“Did you threaten to cut him?” Clarke asked in a small tone. 

“Hell yeah, I did. But he was kind of okay with that. Guess he’s glad Clarke has a posse.” 

“What else did he say?” 

Octavia and Raven ran Clarke through a play by play of what Bellamy said this morning. Which wasn’t much. Her friends were over analyzing the poor guys every move. This was going to be a long vacation, thought Clarke.

“I need you guys to do me a favor.” Clarke cut them off. She turned to look into each of their faces, keeping her face stern. “If anything happens, I need to know it happens normally. I cannot have both of you running around trying to play cupid. Because then it won’t be real. It won’t be real to me.” She added quickly before Octavia could interrupt her. “You guys better behave. Or else I’ll make sure nothing happens with him. Got it?” she finished with a glare.

“Fine.” Raven muttered. Octavia looked deflated, but nodded her head in confirmation.

 

But still, they meddled. Octavia was not going to let them go at a snails pace. Ten hours into their trip, darkness settled around them. Everyone pulled over at a truck stop gas station to fuel up on gas and food. The drivers decided to switch with someone else for the remainder of the trip. Octavia made Raven go with Wick, while they drove Lincolns truck. Lincoln would join them in the jeep where Octavia would drive. Then she made Miller go with Murphy, who was up to driving Bell’s truck and dragged Bellamy to the jeep. 

Clarke threw her daggers with her eyes, but kept her lips shut as they all got back into their designated vehicles. Lincoln claimed the front seat, and Clarke slid into the backseat next to a fidgeting Bellamy. Octavia flashed a grin to Clarke through the rear-view mirror.

She had to be the one to try and keep a conversation going, but everyone in the jeep had driven the first leg of the trip. They were all exhausted. Lincoln tried to stay up for her benefit, but Clarke began to nod off.

At one point, her head dropped completely, and she woke up quickly with a loud gasp. Not even a minute later though, her head began to bob again. Bellamy had been dozing off while sitting upright. He always had the ability to sleep at will wherever he was at. He had woken up when Clarke gasped. Now, he looked over at her, his face scrunching up with fond amusement. He threw an arm out and laid it behind Clarke’s head, running along her shoulders. Bellamy tilted her towards him, tucking her into his side. Her head rested on his chest. She sighed contently and nuzzled closer, bringing one hand up to lay on his chest under her chin.

Octavia wanted to whoop at them, but contained herself. She kept sneaking peeks at them from her mirror. She watched as her brother leaned down and ran his lips over the top of her head. He closed his eyes for a moment, but when he opened them, he made eye contact with Octavia through the mirror. Frowning, he straightened up, warning her with his glare to not say a word. 

She waited ten minutes after he knocked out to turn to Lincoln. She shook him lightly.

“Linc, do me a favor real quick?” He looked at her through sleepy eyes, which she normally found very hot. She felt the familiar clench in her belly, but she ignored it now.   
“Get my phone and take a picture of Clarke and my brother, please?”

He glanced quickly behind him, surprise flitting across his face, before turning awkwardly to her. “Uhh, babe. I don’t exactly want your brother to kill me.”

“He won’t know it was you. I’m the instigator. You’ll be safe. Please?” Lincoln sighed, but obliged. “Thank you!”

 

‘Don’t meddle’ my ass, Clarke Griffin. You need me, Octavia thought wryly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is probably my shortest chapter yet.   
> Don't worry, it'll go back to lengthy next chapter.  
> I didnt exactly know how to go about this roadtrip.  
> I mean, they are kind of boring.  
> And technically, everyone was sleep deprived.   
> I just needed something cute with Bellamy and Clarke.


	9. Cabin in the woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Swimming is a must. Even when you can't.

The word cabin does not come close to describing the luxurious house they pulled up to. Clarke could hardly believe her eyes. A huge two story modern styled cabin sat in the middle of a clearing. Tall trees lined around them, cut of abruptly by the concrete driveway. The front walls of the cabin was made with a mixture of dark stone and brown wood. There was a porch leading to the door, looking like it wrapped to the backyard. From where Clarke stood, she could see a sliver of the lake laying behind the building. She was giddy with excitement.

Everyone got off of the cars, some groaning and stretching their sore bodies, others hopping around looking as excited as she felt. Octavia came and hugged her tightly, her eyes wide and her mouth popped open. The cabin really was gorgeous. Clarke glanced around, wondering where the other set of dark eyes were at. She spotted Bellamy near the front of her jeep, already staring at Clarke and his sister. He was smiling at them, his eyes crinkling. When they met gazes, he smiled sheepishly, as if he got caught doing something. Bellamy turned to face the truck, already talking to Miller and Lincoln about unloading.

“Damn.” Raven had walked up to them.

“You said it.” Octavia bounced on her heels, then suddenly took off running. “I GET FIRST DIBS!”

Clarke and Raven groaned.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me!” Raven shouted, throwing a side glance at Clarke, then taking off full speed to find a room.

Clarke gasped, feeling betrayed. “You two are NOT fucking cool.” She yelled at them, running after the two back-stabbers. Passing the porch, she ran into a large alcove that opened up into a cozy living room. Stumbling, Clarke crashed into Octavia and Ravens still form.

“Ow, what are you—“ Clarke cut off. The entire back wall of the cabin was windows. They were so clear, it almost seemed they were outside. The lake spread out before them, blue water rippling gently. The sky still had a morning tinge to it, the pinks not entirely leaving. The porch continued around the back after all. From where they stood, they saw what looked like couches in the far left.

The living room was amazing on its own. Large plush sofas sat facing a stone chimney. It was nicely decorated, with made-to-look faded furnishing. Over-sized pillows lounged around the floor and a small coffee table sat in the center. Under them was hard wooden floors, smooth and free of scuffles.

It was all breathtaking. The girls stared around for at least two minutes, before shoving each other around, trying to locate the stairs. They passed an open kitchen to the left of the living room. It had L shaped counters with white cabinets. A long dining table sat next to the wall of windows, looking over the lake. The stairs were at the end, a winding staircase that opened up to a bright landing. There was carpet instead of wood, dark hues swirling around in patterns. The walls stayed the dark wood from downstairs. 

On either side of them were hallways and doors. The girls began walking down a hallway. Clarke decided to go right, while Octavia and Raven took the opposite hall. Hidden behind a wall covering the stairs, Clarke found a small sitting area. A large tv was propped up on the wall. Brown leather couches surrounded the walls and a shelve sat next to the tv. Clarke walked over to it, hoping for books, but found only movies. Backing out of the small area, she wandered over to a random door to her left. Opening it, she dropped her bag down. Clarke had found the room she would claim on her first shot.

The wall farthest from her was all window. Two beds were in the room, white fluffy comforters draped over them. A desk separated the beds, sitting against the wall of windows. Clarke moved over to sit on the desk. She could see the lake perfectly, as well as the deck below. She noted a long bridge jutting out into the water.

The door banged behind her. she turned quickly yelling “shotgun!” before realizing it had been Jasper and Maya.

“God damn it, Clarke.” Jasper threw up his arms, turning on his heel out of the room.

Maya giggled. “He has managed to only walk into the claimed rooms. Raven just kicked him out of hers.” She rolled her eyes, following her boyfriend out.

Clarke walked out into the hallway, leaving her bag on the bed as a warning for others. Going down the hall, she ran into Bellamy.

“Oh, hey. We’re getting down all the luggage. Where do I put yours?” in his hands was her large suitcase.

“Uh—I claimed that room over there.” Bellamy nodded and walked around her and into the room. Clarke thought about following him, but figuring they could talk later, went back to find everyone else.

 

Finally, everyone was settled in. there were six rooms in the cabin. So mostly everyone got a roommate; Octavia and Lincoln, Raven and Wick, Jasper and Maya, Monty and Miller, Murphy and Bellamy, leaving Clarke alone in her own room. She didn’t mind being on her own. Each room had two beds, but she didn’t exactly want to bunk up with a couple.

They all met up in the kitchen. 

“I want to go swimming already.” Monty looked out at the lake in longing.

“Same.” Miller stated.

“Well let’s go!” Octavia chirped, already running upstairs to put on her bathing suit. Jasper, Monty, Miller and Maya followed her up.

“I don’t know about them, but I am starving.” Clarke turned to agree with Raven. “Let’s make food, Griffin.” They opened the fridge, which was to their relief, full of food. “Do  
they just leave all this here?” 

“My manager said someone would bring the essentials before we arrived.” Bellamy said from the kitchen table. “Only once. The next two weeks, we have to go grocery shopping.”

Eggs, bacon and toast were made. Eventually, only Raven and Clarke remained behind. Lincoln, Wick, Bellamy and Murphy had succumbed to temptation, switching to swim shorts and walking out onto the deck. Clarke could see her friends bobbing in the water, splashing each other.

“I can’t swim.” She said it softly, even though only Raven remained.

“I know.” Raven said just as softly. They stayed looking out of the window silently. Clarke knew Raven was only staying behind for her benefit. Before she could force her friend out the door, Raven turned to her. “Hey, why don’t you just come out anyway? Sit on the edge, put your legs in. Take your sketchbook.”

Clarke had a feeling that Raven wouldn’t abandon her to stay inside of the house alone. She nodded, instead, heading up to her room to change. She put on a white two piece bathing suit, but she added a cover on top to hide most of her body. 

She padded out barefoot to the deck, her sketchbook under her arm and two pencils stuck behind her ear. Raven was already at the edge of the lake, looking back to make sure Clarke came out. Clarke waved once at her. She nodded then jumped into the lake with a squeal.

“Clarke Griffin, you better get in the water right now!” Jasper yelled at her from farther in the water. Everyone turned to look at her.

“I’m going to draw for a bit.” She yelled back.

“What? Get in the water, ma’am.” Miller called out. Clarke walked to the edge. The deck ended in several steps that led directly into the water. She sat on the step before the water, letting her legs dangle into the lake. The water was fresh, but it warmed when her legs had submerged for a while. 

“I’ll go in a bit, guys.” She waved her sketchbook at them. Most of them rolled their eyes but continued swimming around. Clarke took down one pencil, opening her book to a fresh page. She posed her pencil above the page, but looked up to find what she wanted to draw. 

The first thing her eyes fell on was Bellamy. He grinned at her from where he swam. His dark eyes were glowing, as was his skin, from the reflection of the sun on the water. Drops clung to his long curls. His tan shoulders poked out softly under the rippling water. Bellamy’s freckles seemed more prominent under the sun. He beckoned at her, inviting her into the water. She smiled softly, shaking her head at him. He didn’t push her, instead submerging fully into the water.

When he was no longer in her sight, she closed her eyes, not at all surprised that Bellamy was imprinted perfectly under her eyelids, water and all.

 

He swam closer to the deck, but Raven intercepted him. She bobbed near him, a small ‘pst’ drawing his attention. He looked at her in confusion. She snuck a glance at Clarke, who was already looking down at her book, then gestured for him to go to her. Wick was looking in amusement at his girlfriend’s attempt to not be obvious. Still, he swam to her, two long strokes of his arm placed him directly beside Raven.

“Clarke can’t swim.” She said simply. Bellamy was shocked. Who doesn’t know how to swim? Still, it explained her hesitation. He nodded once at Raven, who smirked at him before swimming off to rejoin Wick.

Bellamy turned to look at Clarke. She had quickly become immursed in her drawing. Her hands drew long strokes, some gentle, some bordering on aggressive. Her eyebrows were pulled down, eyes glazed over and she was biting her lip again. She looked beautiful, the true epitomy of a tortured artist. He couldn’t place his finger on how she looked sad as she sketched. Something about the intensity of it made it seem less peaceful. She was moving her hand across the paper with purpose, instead of patience, like she couldn’t wait to get the image out on her book.

“Let’s play Marco-Polo!” Monty yelled out to everyone. He and Miller had been trying to beat each other in a swimming race. Bellamy hadn’t paid attention, not knowing who was the winner. He finally looked around at everyone, having been sidetracked with Clarke. Looking around, he realized everyone had kind of gone out on their own, or in couples, to enjoy the water. Lincoln and his sister were floating serenely a bit farther from him. Raven and Wick were competing on who could touch the floor first. Maya and Jasper had simply been swimming in circles. Murphy was lazily stretched out on his back, not paying any of the others attention.

“Hell yeah!” Maya agreed eagerly, grabbing Jasper before swimming over to Monty and Miller. Slowly, everyone made their way to the steps where Clarke sat. She still hadn’t looked up. Bellamy swam over to them as well.

“Who’s it?” 

“Clarke!” Octavia now noticed her friend. Her voice was bordering on a scold. Bellamy watched as his sister lightly splashed water on Clarke’s feet. 

Finally, she lifted her blonde head up, blinking as she noticed everyone gathered at her feet.

“What are you guys doing?” she looked at them suspiciously. 

“We are going to play Marco-Polo. You need to be the one to choose who is It. And if you’re not getting in the water, you’ll be the hint-giver.” Jasper explained.

“Hint-giver?”

“You will help whoever is It by giving them clues.” Monty told her.

“You guys are all playing Marco-Polo? Aren’t you adults?” she teased.

“Hey, we are adults on vacation.” Miller called out seriously.

“Yeah. What happens here stays here.” Murphy chided.

“Enough Yik-yak. Clarke, choose who is It.”

Clarke pretended to contemplate for a moment, then pointed her finger at Octavia. “It!”

Everyone scattered from Octavia, who immediately shut her eyes, stretching her arms out. 

“Marco.” 

Different Polo’s sounded out. With Clarke’s guidance, it still took her ten minutes to catch Murphy, who kept floating on his back. He hadn’t paid attention to where she was, not being able to duck out of her reach on time. 

“Whatever man. MARCO.” He hollered.

They played for well over two hours. Bellamy let Maya catch him once, her turn took longer because she was a slower swimmer. Finally, everyone complained about hunger and pruned fingers, then ambled out of the water. 

“What are we going to eat?” Jasper asked, clutching his stomach. Maya patted his hand softly, leading him inside with a roll of her eyes. 

Bellamy waited until most of them had retreated before approaching Clarke. She had gone back to her drawing with a vengeance, but now she seemed to sense him, stopping when he neared her. She quickly closed her book, placing it beside her and putting her pencil back into the tangle of her hair to rest behind her ear.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” She smiled at him. “Having fun?”

“I’d have more fun if you got in the water.”

Her grin dropped. “Bellamy, I can’t—“ she didn’t finish, blushing.

“Swim?” He finished for her. She nodded, then looked at him in defiance, waiting for him to make fun of her. Instead, he held out one hand to her. “Come on, Clarke. You don’t have to swim. Just get in the water.”

She stared at his outstretched hand, biting her lip again. Her eyes flickered to the lake, a look of longing settling on her face. But she shook her head. “I can’t. I’ll most likely drown.”

Bellamy chuckled, but kept his gaze on her. “Try trusting me, Princess.” She met his stare, looking for something in his face. He didn’t know what she found, but suddenly she stood up. 

“Fine.” Putting her pencils down at her feet, she gripped the edges of the dress thing she wore over her bathing suit. In one swipe, she threw it over her head, standing in just the bikini. 

Bellamy felt the wind knock out of him. Her skin was pale and unblemished, looking unfairly smooth even from here. Her body—damn. 

What’s more, Clarke had tattoos. A large tattoo sat directly above her belly button, making its way up between her breasts. It was a very detailed bird cage. The door to the cage was hanging open, unhinged. The bird was nowhere in sight. Around the cage were intricate swirls, surrounding the bottom of her chest. It was beautiful.

There were more on her sides, but Bellamy wasn’t able to see what they were before she crossed her arms over herself, glaring at him for ogling at her.

He cleared his throat, tearing his gaze away from the mesmerizing beauty standing in front of him. He silently held out his hand to her again. She hesitated only for a second before kneeling down and grabbing his hand. Bellamy helped lower her into the water.

When she was submerged, Clarke looked up to Bellamy, her face lit up with excitement and wonder. He grinned down at her, loving the look of pure happiness that settled on her.

“I’m going to move away from the stairs okay?” he warned her. She simply nodded at him, not saying anything. Still, he saw her swallow. “Put your hands on my shoulder, and just kick with your feet.” Bellamy placed his hands lightly on her ribcage, dragging her slowly through the warm water. He swam backwards, making sure she didn’t panic.

But she never did. He sped up his pace, and she giggled as the water rushed around her. She kicked her legs as he had instructed her, and they glided through the water easily.

“You want to try and float?” she bit her lip and looked unsure. “It’s the easiest thing to do.” He assured her. “I taught Octavia how to float first before swimming. It helps.”

“Okay.” She agreed slowly. “Just don’t let me die, okay?” 

“Hey, I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.” He reached out to touch her face, one finger leaving a wet trail on her cheek. She leaned into his hand, smiling softly at him, but the hesitation was still in her eyes. “I can’t let anything happen to you. You aren’t covered under the insurance of the house and my boss would kill me if you died on his property.” Bellamy kept his face serious as he said this.

Clarke gasped out a laugh, sending a splash in his direction with the flat palm of her hand. 

“You are a jerk, Bellamy Blake.” She growled, humor still lining her face. 

He laughed loudly, his voice echoing in the empty lake. “Come on, Clarke. Don’t let your fears stop you from having fun.”

She stopped laughing, staring at him with a seriousness that took his breath away.

“Okay.” She said suddenly. “What do I do?”

“You lay back. I’ll hold onto you for a moment until you get the hang of it. But it really is simple. If you relax, your body will naturally float on its own.” 

Her expression was skeptical, but with a small sigh, she complied. Leaning back, Clarke let her head dip into the water. Bellamy placed one hand on the small of her back, the other reached down to help her legs come to the surface. She laid out perfectly in front of him. Her hair flowed around her face, a blond halo that tangled with the lake. Her eyes were squeezed shut, but her body remained relaxed. 

Clarke let her arms extend from her body, they swam lazily beside her. Her chest and torso were a bit out of the water, giving Bellamy a better view at the tattoo—and her breasts. The male part of him soared at the sight—he was still a man after all. But he ignored that part of him, focusing only on the serenity of the moment. 

And he couldn’t help but notice how detailed the tattoos were. They still baffled him. The proper princess, tatted up under clothes. If that wasn’t hot, he didn’t know what was.

The tattoos on her ribs were different. There was one, a pocket watch. The doors of the watch were open, the arms were pointing to a specific time. 2:32. A small chain ran from the top of the watch, creating a small heart before disappearing into the swirl of her chest piece. Around the watch, the words “Remember why” were etched. 

He shook his head lightly, returning his gaze Clarke. She still had her eyes shut, but this time they weren’t squeezed. She looked peaceful.

 

Clarke didn’t open her eyes yet. The feeling of the water was amazing. She had been in pools before, but her feet were always firmly on the ground when she walked in. The lake seemed to already be deep, the ground dropping away the moment a person jumped in. Bellamy’s hands were constantly on her, which made her feel safe.

Floating had been his idea, but she had watched Murphy and Octavia do it earlier and it seemed like a fun thing to do. She allowed Bellamy to teach her. 

Just now, she peeked at him from under her eyes. Her heart lurched suddenly. Bellamy had let her go. He was still near and his gaze was firmly on her, but his hands were floating by him. 

“Bellamy—“

“It’s okay. Look, you’re doing it on your own. Just stay relaxed. I’m here.”

Clarke turned her head back to look up at the clear blue sky. This was amazing. She moved her arms around her, feeling the water slid past her skin. The sun was warm on her face. Sighing, her heart soared.

Then Bellamy’s hands were back on her. Clarke didn’t understand how she didn’t notice them leave her to begin with, but she had been distracted so she didn’t wonder too much about it. She couldn’t contain the grin spreading across her face. He blinked at her, looking slightly dazzled before he returned her smile. 

She straightened, then said, “That was so awesome! I did it!” she felt giddy with pride. It took her a second to realize how silly she sounded. It was only floating after all. Clarke dropped her eyes to the water, clearing her throat awkwardly.

“It was amazing. Just watch, you’ll be swimming by the end of this vacation. I promise.” Bellamy placed one finger under her chin, bringing her face back up. “Seriously, Clarke. You floated on your first try.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “You said it was simple.”

“Simple, yes. But still. Octavia didn’t float on her first try. Or me for that matter. My mom would say it was because I had a big head. I kept sinking. I still technically suck at floating. My backstroke is beast though.” He winked down at her.

Suddenly, Clarke threw her arms around Bellamy’s shoulders, bringing him in for a kiss. He was being so good about everything, she couldn’t stop herself. Nor did she want to.

His mouth was still, surprised at the suddenness. When she was about to move away from him, he seemed to wake up. Bellamy wrapped his arms around her, bringing her nearer and returning her kiss with fervor. Clarke’s legs awkwardly bumped into his thighs, the water making them weightless. She wrapped them around his waist. 

Bellamy groaned into her mouth, pulling away to look into her eyes. His cheeks were a light shade of pink and his eyes were hooded. 

“You are just full of surprises, Princess.”

“You don’t even know half of it, Blake.”

“But I want to.”

Clarke grinned. “Good.” Then she pulled him in for more kissing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second half of this chapter will be posted later on tonight.  
> I cut it in half because it might be a long one.  
> Any suggestions would be appreciated.  
> THANK YOU SO MUCH to all those giving me such positive feedback.  
> You guys have no idea how amazing it is to read your comments and messages.  
> I love you all!


	10. First Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let them just enjoy their vacation.

If any of the others noticed their make out session, no one let on. He and Clarke returned to the house after a while. Bellamy was sad to let her go, but the fact that they were going to be spending the next two weeks together made it bearable.

“We made food.” Maya told them as they entered. Bellamy smiled at her in thanks, then walked over to sit in the table. Clarke sat across from him, not meeting his gaze.

“Where’s Octavia?” Bellamy glanced around, barely noticing that his sister wasn’t there.

“She left with Lincoln and Jasper to the town that we passed earlier.” Monty answered. “We decided to do a BBQ tonight. Lincoln will get the meat and stuff. Jasper says he’ll get the alcohol.”

“Oh, a BBQ sounds yummy.” Everyone chuckled. It was just like Clarke to talk about food while eating food. Someone had made huge sandwiches, laying them in a pile at the center of the table. She had already gotten one and was halfway through it before Bellamy even picked one up. She smirked at him, as if knowing what he was thinking. 

 

“I got liquor!” Jasper rammed his way into the living room, holding out a box. They had all been lounging in the living room, Bellamy and Clarke sitting next to each other playing Uno with Maya and Miller while Wick, Raven and Monty sat on the couches. Clarke looked up and from where she sat, she could see the tops of different bottles before he shuffled away to the kitchen. Bellamy and Miller went out to help unload whatever else they brought. 

They began making the food instantly. You’d think the men would go outside and work over the pit and the girls would lounge around the kitchen stirring pots, but they all worked as a team. They’d lace around each other to different areas of the house, helping wherever help was needed. Bellamy made a delicious potato salad. Raven cooked the pork chops on the grill after Wick burned the first batch. Clarke and Octavia happily made alcoholic beverages, their bartending skills paying off. Maya made a chocolate cake. Murphy kept trying to sneak food away. Lincoln showed them how to make these spicy hot peppers stuffed with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon. 

The sky was already dimming, an orange color leaking down into the horizon. Outside on the deck, there was a sitting area. Clarke had noticed it earlier. Four couches sat facing each other in a square, surrounding a fireplace that was jutting out from the ground. Monty started a fire, everyone got a plate, and they all made their way out there.

Clarke’s faced warmed up when Bellamy went to sit beside her. She looked up at him, catching his smirk. They had been flowing around each other easily, sharing small touches here and there, and exchanging glowing smiles when no one else was looking. It all made Clarke feel like a teenager again.

“Games?” Jasper asked as they settled down

“Games!” Everyone agreed.

“Okay.” He nodded, satisfied. “Let’s play Yes or No.” Maya giggled, but Octavia, Raven and Clarke groaned. Jasper glared at them before telling everyone else the rules. “Here’s how it goes. We need a talking stick, or a small ball. The person holding the ball gets to ask a question to whoever they want. You have to say the person’s name. For example, Maya, are you having fun?”

“Yes.” She answered simply.

“The person asking the question can only ask yes or no questions. Nothing with detail. And the person being asked can’t hesitate. If they hesitate, it’s an automatic shot. If the person asking the question asks it in a way that can’t be answered with a yes or a no, that’s a shot for them. If the person answering lies, and someone in the group knows it’s a lie, call out ‘Bullshit’ and that’s a penalty shot. If you forget to say the person’s name—“

“SHOT.” The girls rang out, smirking at each other.

Jasper nodded. “Exactly. Everyone accepts?” 

Clarke looked around. Everyone seemed excited. This game was made to get people as drunk as possible and Jasper knew it. 

“Who goes first?”

“Wait, we need the ball.” Raven hopped up from besides Wick, running into the house. She was back in less than a minutes, tossing the ball to Miller. “You go first.”

He looked at the ball awkwardly, then looked up. “Murphy, you and Monroe dating?”

“No.” he said smoothly, catching the ball. “Jasper, is your liver still alive?”

“No. Raven, is Wick boring in bed?”

“No. Clarke, are you going to live these next two weeks to the fullest?”

Clarke caught the ball. “Yes! Octavia, are you going to keep the promise you made in the jeep?”

“No. Bellamy, do you want to date Clarke?”

Bellamy missed the ball thrown at him as everyone but Clarke snickered. It rolled away into the dark before he got up to follow it.

“Penalty shot, bro. You hesitated.” Jasper poured out Jack Daniels for him. Clarke’s glare at Octavia was killer.

Bellamy tilted back his drink, but continued the game. “Miller, you ready to show these young ones what real drinking is?”

“Fuck yes. Monty, you think you can keep up with us?” Was it just Clarke, or have Miller and Monty been flirting? She vowed to pay closer attention. She’s been allowing herself to get distracted, not paying as much attention to her friends as she normally would. Glancing at a smiling Bellamy, it wasn’t hard to realize why.

“Yes. Lincoln, is Octavia as annoying in private as she is every other time of the day?” Octavia laughed, flicking him off.

“No.” he smiled kindly down at her before turning back to the group. “Wick, do you ever feel as out of place with these hyper women as I do?”

“Yes.” Wick answers in exasperation. “Still love them though.” He added quickly, after Raven pinched him.

 

On and on the game went, not getting them as drunk as Clarke had originally assumed. Usually, they asked very personal questions that led to awkward hesitations. Maybe it was because of the larger crowd, but the questions were somewhat easier to answer.

“Time for a new game. This one got boring.” Murphy called out.

This time it was Bellamy who offered up an idea. “Alright. I have one game. It doesn’t have a name. At least not one I know. But we played it growing up.” He gestured at Miller.

“When? The stone ages?” Jasper joked.

“Har har. It’s a card game. Of sorts. So we need a deck.” 

“Which is over here.” Miller threw in the new pack of cards. “Octavia bought it.” Clarke looked over at Octavia, who grinned at her brother.

“Good. So it’s kind of simple. We each take a card from the deck. Some cards have certain meanings to it.” Bellamy ripped open the package, taking out cards to use as examples. “Queens mean ladies chug. Kings are for men. The Joker means the person holding it gets to dare anyone they choose. And Ace is free reign. You can make someone give a truth, a dare, or drink. The numbered cards mean you’re safe. But each time you pull a card, you slip it under the tab of the beer. Once more cards are under the tab, it’ll eventually open. Whoever put the card that makes the beer open needs to chug the entire thing.”

This was a game Clarke had never played before. She sat up excitedly. Bellamy looked over at her, grinning at her enthusiasm. 

 

It didn’t take them long to get tipsy. Bellamy knew this game was designed to give everyone the chance to drink. As he pulled out another Queen, all the girls around the table drank deeply. Clarke had a light blush on her cheeks, but when she stood, she did not sway.

“Flip a cup!” she yelled. Raven and Maya whooped at her idea, and the three of them took off into the kitchen to get cups. Octavia was arguing with Jasper.

“No dude. You have it all wrong. It’s ‘Beer before liquor, never sicker. Liquor before beer, you’re in the clear.” 

“Seriously?” Jasper groaned. “Shit, that does sound right.”

“Ha! In your face.”

“Everyone get your butt into the kitchen.” Raven yelled out at them.

They all shuffled into the kitchen. Clarke was setting up the last cup on the table. 

“We need to form teams.” She said. “But we are uneven, so someone has to sit out once per game.”

“I’ll sit the first one out.” Maya volunteered. “I can make sure no one cheats.” She threw a glare at a suddenly wide eyed Jasper.

“I would never cheat, babe. You should know me by now.”

“It is because I know you Jasper Jordan that I am keeping my eyes on you.”

In the end the teams consisted of Clarke, Raven, Octavia, Jasper and Miller. The second team was Bellamy, Wick, Lincoln, Murphy and Monty. Clarke grinned over at Bellamy. 

“Ready to lose, Blake?” she taunted him.

“As if you could beat me, Princess.” He grinned back. Her eyes sparked with the challenge. She was still wearing that cover over her bathing suit. Clarke was barefoot, her curls slightly mussed, and Bellamy had never been more attracted to her than he was now. He felt his belly do that now familiar clench. He couldn’t stop his eyes from flickering down to her lips, the ones that were on him this afternoon, tasting like the salt from the lake.

“Quit sending out sex signals, and let’s begin playing.” Octavia stamped her foot impatiently.

“On the count of three, the ones in the front of the line begin. Everyone else better not move until the person beside them flips the cup over completely. Got it?” Maya glared at all of them, warning them. “Good. One, two—three!”

First up was Miller and Monty. Both men chugged their drinks. Once they were done, they placed the cup down on the table, the corner sticking out a tad bit from the table to allow them to attempt to flip it over using one finger. 

Monty got it on his first try. “Whoo! What were you saying about the young people not keeping up with you aging legends?” he pumped his fist in triumph. Next to him, jasper already drained his cup. When Miller finally succeeded, Murphy chugged his drink next. It continued on down the line. Murphy beat Jasper, Octavia beat Lincoln, Raven and Wick tied.

Now it was Bellamy and Clarke. She grinned once more at him, draining her cup quickly then setting it down to flip. Bellamy mimicked her, keeping one eye on her to make sure she doesn’t get ahead. She might have won beer pong, but he had his pride to maintain.

With an apologetic smile at her, Bellamy neatly flipped his cup over. It stuck on his first try. Clarke managed to get hers a second after him, but the damage was done.

Maya pointed to his side of the table. “You guys win!” 

Clarke mockingly glared at Bellamy, but she was no sore loser. 

“Two out of three!” Octavia shouted. His sister was the one who couldn’t stand to lose.

 

They played five more rounds, until they were drunk enough to keep missing the cup entirely. They didn’t stop playing until Raven tried to flip her cup and almost flipped the table instead. Stumbling, everyone headed to the living room. A glance at his phone showed him it was almost 3A.M. The excitement of the lake and the cabin and the games still buzzed around them. No one seemed ready to go to sleep.

“What do we do now?” Wick asked through a yawn.

“’Nother game?” Monty responded.

“Someone come up with one.” Jasper slurred.

“Too tired.” Maya leaned against Jasper, who instantly wrapped his arms around her.

“If we play a game, it has to be one where we move. Everyone is falling asleep.” Clarke was draped on Raven’s lap. They really loved to cuddle, he thought wryly.

“Twister?” Octavia offered. The two girls chuckled at the suggestion.

“Oh yeah, Tav. I can totally see Lincoln and Bellamy playing twister.” Raven snorted. Clarke glanced at Bellamy, her face in a smirk.

“I’m sitting right here.” Bellamy called out, awarding himself more chuckles. 

“I think we should save all those awesome ideas, and just go to bed.” It was Clarke who conceded first. “I mean, we do still have two more weeks to do all this.”

Everyone mumbled their agreements, tiredness winning out over their want to continue the fun. Couple by couple, everyone filtered out. Bellamy went to the backdoor that led to the deck, stepping out to double check that the fire in the pit was out. Then he made sure the back door was properly locked. Drunk or not, he and Octavia grew up in shitty apartments. The habit of checking locks was forever engrained in him. 

Flipping off lights, Bellamy finally made his way up the stairs. The room he would be sharing with Murphy was between a small living room and a bathroom. He walked into his room, seeing that Murphy was already passed out on one of the beds. Shaking his head at his roommate, Bellamy stumbled to his suitcase, pulling out his sweats he normally sleeps in and headed to the restroom. But when he tried to open the door, he found it locked.

“I’ll be right out.” Clarkes muffled voice came from behind the door. It sounded strained, smaller than normal.

“Are you okay?” Silence followed his question. “Clarke?” He knocked one more time, before she pulled open the door suddenly. Her eyes were down casted, cheeks still flushed from the alcohol. He knew she was tipsy, but maybe she was more drunk than he had originally thought. “Hey,” he stepped closer to her, not making her look up, but letting her know he was there. “Come on, you’ll be fine. Let’s just get you in bed, okay?”

Just then, her phone rang. Bellamy hadn’t even noticed she was holding it in clenched hands. She groaned again, moving away from him. Apparently, whoever was calling her was the cause of her distress.

“Who is that?” Clarke finally turned to look at him, not talking, but showing him her phone screen. ‘ASSHOLE: DON’T ANSWER’ 

Bellamy snorted. Of course Finn had to reach out to her here.

“I left my phone in the room.” Clarke explained, letting the phone ring until voicemail picked up. “He’s been calling since midnight. Maybe he’s drunk.” She shrugged, trying to walk around Bellamy. Before she got too far, he reached out and grabbed her dangling hand that had the phone. He softly disentangled her fingers from the phone, putting it into his pocket before wrapping her in a hug.

“Jackass, remember?” his voice was muffled by her hair, but he knows she heard him. He felt her relax into him. Clarke lifted her face, placing her chin on his chest. Bellamy leaned back to better gaze down at her sparkling eyes. He was fucking glad she wasn’t crying. 

“I know.” She sniffled, smiling at him. “It just still shocks me each time. Why would he keep calling? It’s been years. You’d think he would find someone else to emotionally torture by now, you know.”

Bellamy dropped his mouth onto Clarke’s. His heart leapt at how familiar her lips were becoming. He knew suddenly he could live his whole life and never tire of those lips and the sighs they let out. Pulling back, he grinned down at her. “It’s because there is no other you. You have gotten under his skin as much as you think he is under yours. Be proud of that, Princess. It means he didn’t get let off the hook easily. It means he suffers, too. And you don’t even have to lift a finger to try like he does.”

Clarke gazed into his eyes for a long moment before letting out the breath she had been holding. “I’ve never thought of it that way.” She smiled at him suddenly. “You must have helped your sister out with a lot of guy troubles to be this analytical of a situation.”

Bellamy groaned. “Actually, it was the opposite. She couldn’t even talk to me about guys without me flipping out on her.”

He felt Clarke vibrate with silent laughter. “I can’t imagine that. When I first met you, you were an asshole. But now, you’re—you. And I can’t seem to remember the douche part of you.”

“Douche? Ouch, but yeah. Weird how things can change.”

“Yeah—“

Just then, Clarke’s phone rang loudly from Bellamy’s pocket. He felt her tense up, already pulling away from him. Before he could ask her for permission, he pulled out the phone and answered it with one swipe.

“Bellamy—don’t.”

“Hello?” He answered before Clarke cut him off. 

There was a slight pause from the other side of the line, so he repeated his hello. That brought out a response. “Who’s this?”

“You’re the one calling me, man. You should know.”

“Where’s Clarke?”

“It’s almost four in the morning. Where do you think she’s at?” he grinned down at Clarke, who stood there staring at him in awe. Suddenly, he worried he had overstepped his boundaries, closing in on her to see if she was angry. Clarke sighed, but leaned into him.

“I just heard her.” Finn insisted. “Put her on the phone.”

“She’s otherwise occupied. Clarke has better things to do at 4A.M.” Bellamy leaned down and caught the pucker of Clarke’s lips, reveling in the fact that she kissed him back. 

“Then let her be the one to tell me that.” He felt Clarke grin against his lips.

“Go away, Finn.” She mumbled as she sighed into him. 

And my god, Bellamy felt his knees go weak.

“You heard her.” 

“Wait, Clarke—“ Bellamy all but threw the phone away from them, only stopping because he would then owe Clarke a new phone. He did hang up and let the phone fall away from them as he grasped Clarke’s delicate face with his hands, kissing her in the same urgent manor he had kissed her with the first night in the truck. 

She stood on her tip-toes, trying to reach him better. Bellamy laced his arms around her waist, helping her mold her body to his. This kiss was turning different. Clarke ran her hands up his arms, leaving a trail of goosebumps. She grabbed the back of his head by his hair, pulling him even closer. Her lips were hot against his, finally opening up to him.

He ran his tongue along the edge of her bottom lip, loving the small breath she let out in contempt. Bellamy was more than sure he would do whatever it took to keep hearing that gorgeous sound that made his veins burn with need for more. More of this. More of her.

Before he knew it, he had Clarke against the wall. He let go of her waist, bringing one hand up to cup her soft neck, the other staying at the curve of her hips. He dropped his head to her collar bone. She still tasted like the lake, salty and warm and delicious. Leaving small kisses along her clavicle, Clarke moaned softly, the sound resonating through him.

She suddenly shoved at his chest lightly. Bellamy moved only slightly away from her, staring down at her with hooded eyes. Clarke’s eyes were bright, glowing with heat. She pushed him until Bellamy was the one with his back against the wall. 

Dragging him back to her lips, she nipped his lower lip with her small blunt teeth. She lingered on his mouth for a small second, before trailing kisses down his jawline. She made her way down to his neck, licking him softly right under his ear where he could feel his pulse pounding. Clarke must feel it too. She nipped him gently, smiling against his skin when he sucked in air loudly.

Groaning internally, Bellamy grabbed her face, roughly pulling her into a deep kiss. Their teeth bumped each other awkwardly, drawing a small chuckle from both of them but doing nothing to quench this fire building between them. Nothing could stop them now.

 

Until it did. There was a gasp from the end of the hallway. Bellamy wouldn’t have noticed it if Clarke hadn’t frozen. He glanced in annoyance down the hall, freezing as well when he saw the still form of Jasper.

A long silence followed as they all stared at each other. Bellamy was very aware of how he and Clarke looked. His hand was still tangled in her hair, his other hand splayed out on her lower back, almost bordering her ass.

“Uh—“ Jasper began awkwardly. “I just—needed to get Maya water. But—“ he half turned. “I can just—I can go later.”

Clarke cleared her throat first. One glance at her confirmed her face was flaming red. 

“Don’t be ridiculous, Jas. Go get her water.”

Jasper nodded once, walking down the steps. Stumbling was a better term. He was still drunk. With the moment broken, again, Bellamy and Clarke turned to each other. Her eyes were wide.

“Well.” She began, before breaking out in laughter. “This—never gets to be finished.” Bellamy joined in her laughing, even though his body wanted to yell in frustration.

Jasper quickly climbed the steps again, trying to be inconspicuous about it, but his drunken steps sounded loud in the silence. He waved them goodnight, and ducked into the room where Maya waited.

“I should go to bed.”

Bellamy nodded, following her to her door. Which was directly in front of his. Maybe there was a specific reason he had chosen that room, though he told himself it was because it was the last one available. 

“Thank you. You keep rescuing me from—“ she waved her hand vaguely in the air, but he knew what she meant.

“I did nothing. You’re the one who told him to go away.” He grinned at the memory. She matched his grin.

“Still, thank you.”

“Anytime, Princess. Especially if it brings around that effect on you.” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively at her. She snorted and smacked his upper arm. Then she seemed to remember something.

“Oh! I have something for you.” 

“What? Why?”

“Well, not specifically for you. They’re mine and I don’t take kindly to people snatching my most prized treasures. But it’s technically sort of for you.”

“You lost me.”

She grinned, opening her door quickly. Clarke stepped into her room, leaving her door opened. Bellamy walked to the doorway but didn’t step inside. She was back out in a minute. With movie cases in her hand. He raised his eyebrow at her.

“It’s Harry Potter.” She said sheepishly. “You said you’ve never seen them. So I figured we could watch them. You can’t go the rest of your life not having watched them. Why are you laughing?” Clarke frowned at him.

“Wait here.” He ran into his own room quickly, not even bothering to be quiet for Murphy. He skipped back to Clarke’s confused figure, holding up three cases. When she saw what they were, she broke into a fit of giggled.

“Great minds think alike, I guess. You can’t go your whole life not watching Lord of The Rings. I can’t allow that.”

“Well, looks like we’re going to have to dedicate an entire day to these movies.” She handed him the Harry Potter cases and he gave her the Lord of The Rings series. 

“Looks like it.” 

They both grinned at each other, before Bellamy planted one last kiss on her soft lips.

“Goodnight, Princess.”

She sighed his name before stepping back into her room. He looked down at the cases. This woman was evidently made for him, he thought before heading back to his room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, it's raining where I'm at and the mood was perfect. Enjoy (:


	11. Vacation Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone just wants happiness.

Clarke woke up to Octavia jumping on her bed. 

“Come on sleepy head. The sky is bright, the birds are chirping. Get the fuck up so we can go do things now!”

“Oh my god, Tav. Go away.” Clarke groaned. “You never wake up early.”

“It’s not early. It’s almost midday.”

“Seriously?” Clarke opened one eye, looking at the window. It’s brighter here than it normally is in Oregon.

“Can we go now?”

Finally, Octavia dragged a grumbling Clarke down the stairs. 

“Wow, I can’t believe you two are awake this early.” Raven already sat in the kitchen table, a coffee mug in front of her, her regular bowl of cereal and a sudoku puzzle. 

“Early?” Clarke sat in front of her, taking away her coffee. Then she glanced at the clock. “Octavia! You told me it was midday!” It was fricken 8 A.M.

She grinned sheepishly at her. “You weren’t going to get up if you knew.”

 

And so her day began. They ate a better breakfast once Lincoln got up. He made them all pancakes, eggs, bacon and toast. ‘That mush’ as he referred to Raven’s cereal wasn’t enough to give them the needed energy for the rest of their day.

After everyone had woken up and filtered into the kitchen, they all decided on a morning swim. Stepping out onto the deck, warm air met them. It served to boost their excitement. 

Again, Clarke brought out her sketchbook, sitting on the water’s edge to keep drawing. She finished with the first one of Bellamy, already moving on to capture the morning sky. She brought out her pencil kit, the one that has an assortment of colors. Clarke tried to get the coloring correctly, taking up four pages until she found the right shading. 

Bellamy at one point went into the house, passing her with a cheery smile. Clarke let her eyes follow him back in, loving the fact that he had no shirt on over his swimming trunks. He glanced back at her at the door of the house, throwing her a wink at the free show she was getting. She giggled and looked away, only to catch Jasper staring at them with a knowing grin. Clarke scolded at him, returning to her drawing.

“Hey, Princess.” Turning to look at Bellamy, Clarke had to stifle a groan.

“You’re kidding, right?” he came out with one of those huge floaties, the ones that a person can lay down on to tan in the water. “I am not getting on that thing.”

Bellamy chuckled at her. “It’ll be fun. And you can go to the deeper end with us. We’ll take turns pushing you.” Clarke dropped her head in her hands in horror. He has got to be kidding, please let him be kidding.

 

He wasn’t. Enlisting the help of Octavia, Raven, Jasper and Monty, it only took them two full days to convince Clarke to try it out. On their third day of vacation, she finally broke.

“Fine! I’ll get on. Only if you all leave me alone after.”

“Promise we will!” Octavia squealed. “Let’s go!”

And so, Bellamy helped Clarke get on the floaty, her annoyed voice telling him she could get on ‘the damn airbag without his help.’ He held back the laugh that wanted to ripple out of him at the sight of an angry Clarke sitting in the middle of the plastic raft. Everyone quickly jumped into the water when they saw what was happening. 

Maya and Raven floated near Clarke, maneuvering her farther into the lake. The look of anger was suddenly replaced with doubt, then fear the farther away she was from the house. She bit her lip, glancing around until she found Bellamy. He was keeping back so she wouldn’t accuse him of hovering, but at her look, he swam straight for her. She smiled lightly, rolling her eyes, but relaxing.

Bellamy was happy to discover the rest of her tattoos. As she sat on the raft, facing away from him, he had a clear view at her spine. Running down her vertebrate starting from where her shoulder blades met, there were chess pieces. It began with the pawn, followed by the knight, the bishop, the queen then the king. Below the king, the opposing team began; queen, bishop, knight, pawn. Where the top half was just the outline of the chess pieces, her white skin giving them the effect of looking white, the bottom were shaded in with black. There was only one king sitting in the center of both white and black sets and it was a grey color. It was sort of fascinating. 

 

Eventually, they coaxed her off of the raft. 

“Use your hands to paddle, like this.” Jasper instructed.

“Or you can lay on your back again, and use your arms to propel you if you don’t want to swallow water.”

“Or you can dunk your head all the way under water and swim below the surface. It’s easier for me that way.”

They were all trying to give her swimming lessons, but no one seemed to agree on which method would be easier for Clarke to follow. After she got off the floaty, she seemed more at ease. One hand still gripped the raft, but at least she was inside of the water, enjoying it with the rest of them. Clarke watched in amusement at her friends bickering. 

While they continued to discuss how exactly Clarke should learn, Bellamy watched as she silently began to let go of the raft on her own. She kept her hand hovering over the floaty, but he could tell she was kicking hard with her legs to keep herself afloat. When she managed to keep herself above the surface for an entire minute, she grinned in delight. Bellamy didn’t approach her, knowing she wanted to do it on her own. 

After ten minutes of that, she let herself drift a small way from the floaty, still keeping it within arms reach, but this time bringing both her arms into the water to help her steer. Even from where he was at, there was no missing the pride etched on her face. Her blue eyes met his brown ones, and he nodded at her in approval. You got it, Princess.

 

That night, Miller caught Bellamy while he was throwing out the trash. 

“Hey man. Murphy and I were thinking of going to the bar in town. Wanna come? We can have a guys night out.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

The girls stayed behind while all the guys filed out, piling into Bellamy and Lincoln’s truck. Murphy, Miller and Bellamy went in his truck, Wick, Lincoln, Jasper and Monty in the other. Most of the trip, they didn’t talk. His truck was silent. But eventually, they made it into a small parking lot that sat outside of a smaller bar.

“Well, beggars can’t be choosers.” Jasper said before heading in. There was a pool table in a far corner with a darts board hung up behind it. Small round tables sat around the room and a slim counter ran along the left wall of the bar.

“I’ll get a pitcher.” Wick walked off to talk to the bartender, while the rest of them found a table. Murphy left them to pick up a pool stick.

“So, who thinks they can beat me?”

“I’m pretty sure I can’t, but I’ll play nonetheless.” Monty volunteered. 

Wick dropped off the pitcher of beer at the table, leaving with Jasper to join the game at the pool table. Lincoln had gone to play darts. He was surprisingly good at them, hitting the bulls eye each time.

“So you and Clarke, huh?” Miller drew a long sip of his beer, looking at Bellamy in amusement.

“I guess.”

“Has that been going on for a while or am I barely noticing because we’re all in the same house?”

Bellamy ran a hand through his hair. “I’m still not sure. I mean, we haven’t exactly discussed what we are.” Which was true. Since the night Finn called, they had toned down on the kissing. It’s been two full days since that passionate moment, but since then, they’ve stuck with small touches only. 

Before they had taken off to the bar, Clarke stopped him outside of his room, her hand resting on his arm. She asked him to be careful and to make sure there were designated drivers. She hadn’t let him go until he promised her.

“Well, maybe you should be the one to bring it up then? Take the initiative, man. You’re Bellamy Blake. When have you never made the first move?”

“This time is different. I don’t know what it is about her. It’s like—she’s always preparing to run away. Or that’s how it feels. She has me second guessing myself, making me analyze my shit.”

Miller chuckles. “Ain’t that a bitch.” Bellamy noted his friends eyes flickering over to Monty, who was taking a shot at a yellow striped ball, his face scrunched up in concentration. Miller smiled softly before continuing. “Maybe it’s worth it though. I mean, look at how we’ve lived our lives so far. We became the grumpy old men. If you have a chance to be happy—why not take it? How many times have you gotten a shot at happiness, Blake?”

“Not enough, that’s for sure.” Bellamy had grown up rough—happy, but rough. After his mother died, he grew up too quickly. His life suddenly consisted of jobs, bills, a teenager and stress that shouldn’t be on a seventeen year old. And that’s how it stayed until a while back. Suddenly, Bellamy is no longer stressing about things. He has been waking up each morning and his questions aren’t ‘how am I going to survive this week?’ His questions are now simple shit, like how was he going to spend his day or what was for breakfast.

“Carpe Diem, bro. Seize the day. Talk to the girl.”

Bellamy grinned at Miller. “I’ll talk to the girl, if you talk to the boy.”

He watched as Miller paled, and then begin to sputter. “Wha—why would you assume—I mean, no. Right? Just—don’t be a dick, Bellamy.”

Feeling sorry for him, Bellamy reached over and patted his shoulder. “Hey, man. It’s fine. Happiness, remember? It doesn’t discriminate.”

With a sad expression, Miller met his gaze. “It’s easier for you. Simpler. You both are genetically created to feel attracted to each other. What if he isn’t—like me?”

“How are you going to ask me that? You should ask him. He’s the one who knows. But I’ve seen the both of you. You make him happy, too.” Miller glances at Monty once more, before draining his entire cup.

“Guess it’s easier to give advice than it is to take it.” They both chuckled at that.

 

The designated driver status fell on Lincoln and Bellamy. So at midnight, they both filed all the drunk bodies back into the trucks. The bar didn’t close until three, but even drunk, the men wanted to be home with their significant other. It was almost cute.

“Hey, why didn’t I bring my Maya? Whose idea was it to separate? I should kill them.” 

“Women are weird though. Like, we love them—but they shop too much and leave hair in the shower and mine doesn’t cook but she can fix my AC whenever it breaks and she makes me coffee and she folds my jeans all neat and shit… but she’ hit me if I record over Criminal Justice. Isn’t that weird?” Wick looked around as if expecting someone to confirm his suspicions.

“You don’t even know weird, Wick.” Miller muttered.

“Where’s Murphy?” Bellamy looked around but he couldn’t find his friend anywhere.

“Oh yeah!” Monty slurred. “Forgot. He told me to tell you to not look for him. He is otherwise occupied.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Monty shrugged. “He met this chick and left with her.”

Of course. Bellamy wished him luck, making sure everyone was safely in the vehicles before pulling out and following Lincoln back home.

 

The guys had all left a long while back, giving them free reign of the house. Which they usually had regardless. Raven gathered the movies, Octavia the food, Clarke the alcohol and Maya brought down blankets. They wanted to take another hike, but with the sun already set, they’d have to save it for the next day.

“You guys want to sit outside first? It’s kind of fresh.” Maya stuck her head in from the back door. They all agreed, going out and sitting down at the edge of the lake. Clarke brought along the bottle of Moonshine Jasper had made especially for them. She had added some cherry jolly ranchers, a lot of them, to make the liquor taste sweeter. They drank straight from the bottle, passing it along the four of them.

And they just talked. About everything. About guys, school, work, fall semester approaching, what to do the following week and a half, clothes, books. Just anything really.

“Mine and Jasper’s anniversary is coming up.” Maya said quietly. “I don’t know what to do for him.”

“I’m sure anything you do for him will be great.” Clarke reassured her.

“He asked me to move in with him.” The three girls gasped. Holy shit, thought Clarke. 

“Whoa, is that good?” Raven asked her. Maya shrugged. “What did you tell him?”

“I told him I’d think about it.”

“Maybe it’s a good thing.” Octavia stated. “You both are graduating in a year. Then you’d have to figure out what you want to do after college is over with. You would have a year living together to see if it works out.”

Silent followed Octavia’s words. It was scary to suddenly be faced with their entire future, already reaching up to their feet like the small waves of the lake were now. Clarke understood Maya’s hesitation at moving in, but she also saw Octavia’s logic. 

“Just follow your heart.” Maya turned to look at Clarke. “The future, it’s coming regardless. Just do what makes you happy.” 

Maya reached out, grabbing Clarke’s hand tightly. She also turned to grab Octavia’s, smiling at both of them in gratitude.

“You guys are going to start drunk crying. Snap out of it!” Raven said jokingly, nudging Clarke with her shoulder. It was true, they were already sniffling and leaning into each other. They all giggled, shaking off the emotional part of their buzz.

“This is why we drink with guys.” Clarke stated.

“Most definitely.” Octavia seconded. 

 

When they were heading back inside, Maya pulled Clarke aside. “Hey, I hope you know—following your heart is wonderful advice. And—you should—you should follow yours, too.” At Clarke’s confused expression, she admitted. “Jasper told me he saw you and Bellamy.” Clarke could feel her face warm up, but before she could stutter out an explanation, Maya continued. “Don’t worry. We won’t tell anyone else. But you both seem to go well together. So—yeah.” She smiled awkwardly then.

Clarke took a deep breath, then stepped in to hug Maya. When they parted, they followed Raven and Octavia to the living room holding hands. Only to walk in on the two other girls making shots for them all.

“Are we going to drink all that?” Maya eyed them warily, but Clarke clapped her hands enthusiastically. She hadn’t gotten drunk since their first night there. 

“Yes!” she hissed. “I think I want to get white girl wasted.”

“Clarke Griffin, you beautiful creature, I couldn’t agree more.” Raven raised her own glass to her.

 

By midnight, they were slurring. And playing a very heated game of monopoly. Blankets and movies were discarded and forgotten.

“Stop putting me in jail!” Raven huffed, taking another shot. They had converted it into a drinking game. Whenever you passed go, you’d collect your 200 AFTER you took a shot. 

If you landed on the Go Back To Jail block you’d take a shot to make jail time bearable. If you land on someone else’s property and you didn’t want to pay, you had the chance of taking a shot in repayment.

“No one can send you to jail.” Clarke explained patiently. “You keep landing on the square yourself.”

“Whatever, you just want me for my money.”

“You have like eighty bucks left, dude.” Octavia pointed out.

“’Cuz you bitches keep robbing me!”

“I think you just want to brawl, Reyes.” Clarke rolled her eyes at her friend.

“Yeah Raven, you just want to fight us.”

“Pft, drunk or not, you both can’t handle me.”

Clarke and Octavia eyed each other, before launching across the center table to fall on top of Raven. They fell in a pile of limbs, giggling.

“You need to watch what you say, Raven.” Maya chanted from where she sat beside them. “Penalty shot awarded to everyone for assault and misconduct.” Straightening up, they all took another shot of Moonshine. Clarke’s insides burned happily.

Just then, the front door opened. Murphy came in, dragging a tall female with him. He turned to look at them, silent for a small while.

“Uh—“ he began. “This is Echo. And we will be up in my room.” That was the only explanation he gave them, before dragging the tall dark skinned bombshell to his room.

Clarke whistled. “Even I’d hit that.” They all snorted, resuming their game.

 

Half an hour later, the rest of the guys returned. To very drunk counterparts.

“You need to pay your fucking taxes, Griffin.” Octavia accused.

“Taxes or shots. Taxes or shots. Taxes or shots.” Raven and Maya chanted.

“Gimmie the shot.” Clarke slurred. “I don’t gots no mo’ money.” They all cracked up. Maya sloshed more Moonshine into Clarke’s cup, hooting when she drank it all in one large gulp.

“Whoa, what’s the game here?” Wick sat down eagerly next to Raven, giving her an eagerly sloppy kiss. Which Raven reciprocated with little too much enthusiasm, letting her play money fall away behind her. 

“I don’t even know how to comprehend this scene.” Jasper stated, looking over at Maya with round eyes. Clarke snorted at his expression, gaining the attention of Bellamy, who just walked in helping a stumbling Miller. His expression mirrored Jasper’s shocked one. It only made Clarke laugh harder, Octavia joining in when Lincoln stopped suddenly in his tracks.

“Oh come on, we aren’t that bad.” Octavia leapt up, stumbling over Clarke’s legs and falling into the sofa. Clarke couldn’t breathe from laughing, a stitch creeping up her side. 

“The level of drunkness you all are on, I want to reach it.” Monty sat next to Clarke. “Restart the game?”

 

And so they did, adding in all the guys. Jasper had to pull out another bottle of Moonshine. They had finished the first. Clarke was already beyond tipsy, her blood was rushing quickly and she felt warm all over, but she continued to drink. 

Lincoln was banker. He was always the one most sober, alcohol just never seemed to faze him. Clarke sat back, gazing at all her friends fondly. Her head would spin if she moved too much, so she refrained from movement until it was her turn. In between her turns, she’d lean back on the sofa. 

Monty and Miller were sitting beside each other, acting as if neither of them were peeking at the other. Octavia was arguing with Bellamy, who was insisting she had never learned the correct rules to Monopoly, therefore she shouldn’t tell him where he should put his hotel. Maya was already dozing off, leaning her head on Jasper’s shoulder. 

That moment was one of the ones Clarke knew she’d be able to draw. With all her friends surrounding her, she felt—okay. 

 

“Guys, we are going to bed.” Raven and Wick have been omitting sexual tension since he returned from the bar. Clarke was actually surprised they waited two extra hours before going to bed and not going upstairs immediately.

“Take water bottles with you.” Clarke advised them seriously as they made their way to the stairs. Raven waved at her, letting her know she heard.

“I think I better take my lady to bed as well.” Jasper nodded down towards Maya, already nudging her lightly awake. Maya mumbled for him to leave her alone. 

“I’ll help you take her up.” Bellamy offered. At Jasper’s nod, both boys made their way with Maya tucked between them up the stairs.

“Guess that’s final call for me, too.” Miller put down his fake money, taking one last shot from his glass. He snuck a glance at Monty, who blushed a bit, before ambling after Bellamy and Jasper. Monty mumbled something under his breath before grabbing the bottle of Moonshine, taking a long draw straight from the bottle. He stood up, shaking his shoulders back, and headed upstairs.

Octavia giggled at his back. “He’s cute when he’s flushed. How much longer you think he and Miller will last?”

Clarke pretended to contemplate. “I don’t know. With liquor comes truth. Maybe by this morning.”

“I don’t know. I think the angst of it all makes it seem more fun. Why not draw it out longer.”

She snorted at Octavia. “Where’s that notion in regards to me and your brother?”

“You and my brother are soul mates.” Octavia stated seriously. “He’s your lobster. I want that to happen already so you both can just be happy.”

“I am happy, Tav.”

Octavia rolled her eyes. “Yes, but imagine how much happier you’ll be together?” she emphasized the word together.

Suddenly, Lincoln approached them. “Do you want to go to bed already?” 

“Yeah, just need to put all this away.” She waved her arm at the discarded monopoly game, nearly throwing the board off the table.

“I’ll put it away. You go to bed.” Octavia giggled at her boyfriend, but complied. 

Clarke walked with her until they reached the kitchen. She made to turn off the kitchen light, but glanced at the open backdoors.

“Oh shit. I forgot my sketchpad outside on the deck.” she turned to look at Octavia. “You go to bed. I’m just going to get my book and then come back in, okay?”

“Mm—okay. Stay away from the lake, yeah?

Clarke chuckled, “Yeah, alright.”

“Night Clarke.”

“Night Tav.”

And with that, Clarke went outside into the fresh night. She spotted her book laying on the outdoor sofas. Walking over, she grabbed it and placed it under her arm. She was about to turn around and go back in, but the moon was full and it illuminated the lake so beautifully.

Stumbling, Clarke made her way to the edge of the lake. The surface of it glistened, sharp rays of light folding along like creases. The outline of the trees against the starry night casted a beautiful silhouette. Her breath caught in her chest, and her fingers itched for her pencil. She needed to preserve this moment. Closing her eyes, the picture was perfectly etched in her mind.

She sat down quickly, dropping to the ground so fast her head spun. Clarke grabbed the pencil that was jammed between the spirals of her book. 

 

Bellamy made his way to his room, wanting to change out of his clothes. They smelled like cigar, a man next to them having smoked at least three while they were there. His room was dark and he heard something weird from the corner. He flicked the lights on, his mouth popping open when he realized what he just walked into.

Slamming his hand against the light switch, he turned the lights back off, stepping out into the hallway quickly. The image of Murphy’s ass might be imprinted in his mind forever. Apparently, the girl he ditched them for had come home with him. And now, Bellamy Blake has been sextiled. 

“Hey, Bell. What are you doing?” his sister slurred from behind him. He turned to her, giving her an exasperated look.

“Murphy brought home a date.” He said bluntly.

Octavia snorted. “Oh yeah, forgot to tell you about that. He got here a little before you all did. I thought you knew, though.”

“I knew he took off with her, just not that he would land here. It’s fine, I’ll crash on the couch or something.”

“Clarke’s room has an extra bed.” Octavia hinted, a smirk popping up.

Speaking of Clarke, he thought. “Where is she?” The light to her room was off, door wide open. With the moonlight coming in from the large window, the room was obviously empty.

“She forgot something outside. She’ll be up in a minute.”

Bellamy nodded at her. “Well, I’ll be in this living room if you need anything.”

She frowned at him, her eyebrows drawing down. “You are no fun, big brother.”

“I’m fun.” Bellamy said, acting wounded. His sister merely rolled her eyes, making her way to the room she occupied. 

“Whatever, Bell. Goodnight.” He stayed where he was at until she walked into the room. Once the door shut, he made his way into Clarke’s room, taking the blanket off of the spare bed and made his way to the small living room that was next to his room. He took off his shoes and laid down on the longest sofa. 

It wasn’t uncomfortable. The pillows were actually soft. He could feel himself already falling to sleep. Though he was awakened no more than twenty minutes later by Lincoln coming up the stairs. Lincoln grunted him a goodnight before heading after Octavia. Bellamy laid back down, shuffling around to get back into a comfortable spot before noticing Clarke’s still darkened room. 

Frowning, he got up to check if she had merely walked in without turning on lights. The room was still empty. Shit, Octavia said she had gone outside. Bellamy leapt down the stairs, flying over the last four. Yanking open the back doors, he rushed to the lakes edge. 

Only to be brought up short by Clarke’s figure at the edge of the deck. His heart still in his chest, he approached her. She sensed him when he was a few feet away, glancing up at him silently. Clarke didn’t scurry to close her sketchbook like she normally did. Instead, she left it open on her lap, looking up at him expectantly. He sat down beside her, letting his bare feet drop into the lake.

“What are you doing out here?”

She tapped her sketchbook with her pencil as an answer. His eyes darted down to skim over the paper. She shifted it to him, letting him get a better view. The drawing was amazing. She managed to draw the linings of the trees perfectly, the night sky acting as a backdrop to it. The water looked like it was rippling on the page.

“Whoa, Clarke. This is great. Where’d you learn to draw like this?” She let him grab hold of the book, and he brought it closer to his face to better see all the strokes she had made.

“I didn’t learn anywhere. I have always just been able to draw.” She chewed her lip, looking out at the water before continuing. “My best friend did always encourage me though. Growing up, he’d always buy me little things, like new colored pencils or charcoal. His dad would scold him for using his allowance on me, but he wanted to make sure I had every opportunity to draw better. If it weren’t for him, I’d have stopped a long time ago.”

Bellamy didn’t know what to say to that. He looked at her face as she spoke. She kept her gaze impassive, not meeting his eyes. But suddenly, she turned to him, her mouth brought up in a wide grin. It looked forced, but Bellamy didn’t push her. 

“Let’s go inside.” He nodded, standing up quickly and leaning down to help her up. The fresh air made her more uncoordinated. She tumbled into him lightly before using him to straighten herself up. He snorted at her attempts, grabbing her firmly from the shoulders.

“Come on, Princess. You’re drunk. Want a piggy back ride? Before you fall into the lake or down the stairs.”

Clarke swatted his hand away. “Shut up, Blake. I am A-okay.” To make her point, she let go of him and took an impressive two step storm off before she veered left. He stood watching her, his arms crossed over his chest, keeping his face blank as he waited for her to turn.

Turn she did, glaring at him in defiance before holding out her hand to him. He chuckled, reaching out and helping her climb on to his back. She wrapped her arms around his throat, her face pressed against his and her legs clinging onto his waist. 

He walked into the kitchen, closing the door and locking it before heading up the stairs. Clarke wasn’t heavy, so the climb didn’t kill him. Taking her directly to her room, she slid off his back smoothly onto her bed.

“Do you need anything?” He asked her unsure. She shook her head at him, but stayed quiet. “Well, I’m going to be sleeping in the living room right here, so if you do need anything, just yell.”

Clarke frowned. “Why are you sleeping in the living room?”

“Murphy sextiled me.” He admitted sheepishly. “It’s fine though. I already set up my bed on the couch.”

She shook her head, “Just come sleep here. There’s an extra bed.” Clarke gestured at the bed that ran parallel with hers. 

“It’s seriously fine, Princess. I don’t mind the couch.”

Clarke frowned. “Bellamy—“ her tone was flat. “Just take the spare bed.” She hesitated before adding in a softer tone, “Please?”

And how could he say no to that? He didn’t. Instead, he went to retrieve the blanket and pillow and placed them back on the bed. Clarke already laid in her bed, under the covers. Bellamy turned off the light, taking his shirt off in the darkness and sliding under his blankets. 

The moonlight shone into the room, allowing him to make out Clarke’s figure. She was rolled over, looking in his direction, her eyes wide. Bellamy turned on his side to face her fully. 

“What’s your favorite color?” she asked suddenly.

He thought for a moment before answering. “Green.” 

She flashed him a wide grin. “Mine too. What did you want to be when you were younger?”

“A Historian.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

Bellamy shrugged. “I loved history. I wanted to be one of the people who documented pieces of history. It’s all so fascinating, you know? There are things still out in the world that are undiscovered. And Historians are the first one’s who get to write down the story of our world. It’s the only hints we have at mistakes and achievements. What else would the world have to compare to?” 

He stopped suddenly, realizing how idiotic he sounded.

“You made history sound like art just now.” Clarke said quietly. “How’d you meet Miller?”

“Elementary school. His dad was an officer who was placed in the projects to keep the tenants in line. Miller came to my school and we’ve been thick as thieves ever since.”

“If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?” 

“Transylvania. I am totally digging the vampire folklore.” Clarke snorted. “What’s with all the questions?”

“I’ve known Octavia for four years. Which means, by relations, I’ve known you for four years. Yet, I don’t know you. You know? Am I sounding drunk?”

“Na, I get it. Well, this will only be fair if I get to ask questions as well.”

She sniffled. “Guess that’s fair.”

“Did you draw your own tattoos?”

Clarke paused. Bellamy thought she might not answer, but suddenly, she did. “Yeah, I drew them myself. But I got them professionally done at a studio. How old were you when you first fell in love?”

“I think I was in the fifth grade, and this girl punched me in the nose for putting gum in her hair. It was love at first fist fight. What does the pocket watch signify?”

Her voice was small when she answered. “My dad had one exactly like it. It was smashed in the car accident that killed him. The tattoo is for him. The time was his time of death.” She inhaled deeply, rolling around to lay on her back, no longer looking at Bellamy.

Suddenly, he felt shitty for prying about her tattoos. He slipped out of his bed and went over to hers. When she felt his hands, she scooted over to make space for him. Bellamy put one arm under her head, pulling her towards him. She went willingly, nuzzling her face into his shoulder.

“I’m sorry for bringing it up.” He whispered to her.

“It’s okay.” She whispered back. “It happened a long time ago when I was seventeen. I just don’t talk about it enough to be able to—say it normally.”

“I know. It’s been ten years since my mother passed away, and it still chokes me up. It’s normal to not feel normal about their deaths, Princess. Eventually, the sadness isn’t as suffocating as it was in the beginning. It’s still there, but it becomes manageable.”

She was silent for a beat, simply saying “I hope you’re right.” She scooted closer to him, flushing her body against his. He snaked an arm around her waist, resting his chin above her head. 

Her breathing slowed down, and soon her body relaxed into sleep. He contemplated moving back to his bed, but one glance down at her blonde hair and the idea flew away from him. Snuggling closer, Bellamy drifted off a lot easier than he would have thought possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. I finished this yesterday, but I didnt get to edit it until now.   
> Please dont forget to leave Kudos, they boost my self esteem and let me know my writing is doing fine.  
> hopefully, I post another chapter today, because I have nothing else to do on my sunday.  
> HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE (:


	12. Drink, Drank, Drunk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vacations with all your other college friends = drinking shenanigans.

Clarke woke up with a horrible hang over. Her head was pounding, her throat was dry and the sun was too damn bright. She groaned and tried to roll over. But Bellamy prevented that from happening. Whoa, how’d this happen? She almost panicked, wondering what they had done the night before when all her memories rushed at her. The dark lake, the piggy back ride, talking about her dad. Okay, good, she thought. Nothing else happened.

     Not that she didn’t want anything else to happen, she’d just prefer to remember it. And not be sloppy drunk. Clarke settled back into Bellamy’s arms. He had her wrapped close to him, his face inches from hers. She gazed at his face, loving the ability to ogle without his smirk making her blush. The dusting of freckles looked more prominent, all the sun he had been bathing in during their vacation seemed to have darkened his skin. A dimple sat on his chin. His full lips were slightly open in his sleep. The mop of unruly curly brown hair fell over his eyes. He was beautiful.

     Clarke couldn’t hold back her hand, lifting it up from under the blankets to touch him. She ran a finger along his sharp jawline. Then she smoothed his hair away from his face. Slowly, Bellamy began to wake up under her fingers. He let out a soft sigh, pulling Clarke closer.

     “Morning, Princess.” He said against her hair.

     “Morning Bellamy.” Clarke said chirpily, then she winced. Her head was still pounding, even talking made it throb more.

“How’s your hangover?” She could feel Bellamy silently laughing, his chest vibrating against her. She glared at him, her awed expression being replaced with one of annoyance. He merely grinned down at her. “Do you need anything?” Even though his face was taunting her, his voice was serious.

“Ugh. No. I guess I just have to whisper for the rest of my life.” Bellamy’s shaking laugh vibrated harder, but still he tried to be quiet for her sake. He was about to ask her something else, when the door to the room opened.

A sick looking Octavia stumbled in. “Clarke, can I sleep with you? Lincoln keeps opening the blinds and I—“ she stopped short. “Whoa.” Groaning, Clarke slid under the blankets and tried to suffocate herself into oblivion. Bellamy froze. “Bell, when I said there was a spare bed in Clarke’s room—this might not have been what I meant. But I see how it’s the better choice.” She couldn’t see Octavia’s face, but she could hear the smirk clearly from under the blankets.

“O, would you please—leave?”

“Sure, big brother. Will do.” And with that, Octavia skipped out, closing the door lightly behind her. Clarke didn’t lift her head out of the blankets just yet, the light had been cut off under there and it helped sooth her headache.

“You can come out now.” Bellamy said, amusement dripping from his tone.

“I’m never coming out. My head stopped hurting.”

“Why? No light?”

“Exactly.”

He chuckled. “Well, I guess since you’re going to be an invalid today, we might as well start on that movie marathon. Harry Potter or Lord of The Rings?”

“Are you taunting me?” Clarke peeked out at him, glaring at Bellamy until she assessed whether or not he was lying.

“Come on, Princess.” He had his smirk pasted on his face, but he was already throwing the blankets off them.

“I don’t want to move.” Bellamy looked down at her in exasperation, before scooping her up, throwing her over his shoulder. “Bellamy!” Clarke gasped, laughing in spite of herself. “I don’t even have clothes on yet!” which was sort of true. She wore an over sized tee-shirt, having discarded her shorts last night before Bellamy returned.

“You’re in a lake house. I think it’s okay to be semi-naked.” He said simply, but put her down nonetheless. “You get the blankets to the living room. I’ll get you a hungover kit.” With that, he turned and left the room. Clarke rolled her eyes, feeling her stomach roll along with it. Ugh, she was going to throw up.

Luckily, she didn’t. Putting on her pajama short and throwing her hair up into a bun, she gathered the blankets, going to deposit them on the sofas. A quick stop at the restroom followed, then she brought out the Lord of The Ring DVD’s. Bellamy still hadn’t come back up, so she sat in the middle of the sea of blankets, checking her phone to kill time.

Octavia posted a status: _Guess I’m not the only one having an amazing morning (; #TeamBellarke_. Clarke was confused. Bellarke? It sounded scarily close to hers and Bellamy’s name. Oh god, Clarke groaned. Octavia had paired their names. There were already comments.

_Jasper: I approve Team Bellarke. Been shipping them for quite some time._

_Raven: Ditto_

_Maya: You guys are horrible._

_Clarke: I ditto Maya._

_Raven: Don’t hate._

Octavia also posted a picture. It was of herself, Clarke and Raven from last night. Maya must have taken it when they had tackled Raven. The three girls were breathless with laughter, cheeks pink, hair going haywire. She put a simple caption: _My family._

Clarke wasn’t going to lie, it made her feel a bit choked up. Ugh, she got up and went in search of her friend. Knocking lightly on the door to her room, Octavia called her in. She opened the door a crack, sticking her head in. Lincoln wasn’t in there, but Octavia and Raven were curled up on one of the beds. Once they saw her, they scooted closer to make space. Clarke skipped over and laid beside them.

“I love you guys.” She said simply.

“Are you just saying that because you feel guilty about my brother?” Octavia said jokingly.

“Shut up, Tav. I do love you guys.”

“We love you too, Griffin.” She stayed cuddling with them for another thirty minutes. Octavia questioned her lightly about Bellamy. She was genuinely sad nothing happened, telling Clarke to stop moving at a snail’s pace.

“I should go. We’re doing a movie marathon.”

“Ooo, what are you guys watching? Can we join?” Octavia sat up slightly.

“Lord of the Rings.”

She groaned and dropped back down onto the bed. “Ew. Bellamy used to make me watch that with him all the fucking time growing up. Never again.” Clarke snorted, disentangling herself from her friends. “Good luck, though! Don’t forget the whole happiness bit we talked about last night.”

Rolling her eyes, she closed the door behind her and made her way back to the living room. Bellamy was already seated on the spot she had just vacated. He didn’t ask her where she went, probably already knowing.

“So I brought you coffee and water. Pretzels and rice cakes to help with your nausea. Four advils, two for right now, two for later. Uhh—and a bagel.” He waved sheepishly at the table in front of them. He held up the remote. “Wanna start?”

Her heart warmed at the sight of him. He really was trying. How many more times can she hesitate and say it’s because she wasn’t sure if he liked her back. Clarke sat on the couch right beside him. He lifted the blanket, placing it back down on her when she was comfortable. Clarke looked up at him, waiting for him to turn towards her. Grabbing his face, she brought him down for a long kiss.

Though he wasn’t expecting it, he responded quickly, letting go of the remote to hold her. His smooth lips molded with hers, breathing a small sigh.

“What was that for?” he asked when they had pulled away. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“I’m working on happiness.” She said simply. Clarke didn’t think he would understand, but his mouth popped open in shock, before widening in a grin.

“So am I, Clarke.” Then he scooped her into another long, tantalizing kiss.

 

 

“Wait, okay. So Frodo and Sam are going on their own? That’s stupid. Why are they splitting up?”

“They need to. You saw the ring. It corrupts anyone. Plus there’s a war going on. They need to go separate ways and deal with different stuff.”

“I loved it. Next one?” Bellamy chuckled, already standing up to put the second DVD in.

“Whatever you say, Princess.”

“Why do you always call me that?” He had just slipped the disk into the player. Now, he looked up at Clarke. She had a small smile hovering on her face, but she waited for him to answer.

“I’m not sure. When I first met you, you seemed so—entitled. It kind of fit. Now, it just feels right.”

“Entitled?”

“Yeah, you never really worried about money.” Bellamy shrugged, feeling uncomfortable. “I met you when Octavia barely started college. That was the time bills were at their highest. I guess it just irked me how you never had to stress about it.” But not anymore, he silently added.

Clarke bit her lip, not looking angry at his explanation. “I technically don’t worry about money. Not so much. When my dad died, he left me a small inheritance. That’s how I pay for college. Before he died, my parents were almost falling into bankruptcy, though. He was an engineering scientist and my mother was a doctor. But they spent more than they earned, so when he was let go from work, it really hit them hard.”

Bellamy went back to the couch, sitting beside her. He wrapped one arm around her, pressing her against his side. Her head fell onto his chest as the opening credits began.

“I’d rather have him alive, broke and all, than have his insurance money.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

Clarke snorted. “You keep apologizing when I tell you about my past. You don’t have to. If I didn’t want you to know, I wouldn’t tell you.” She said simply. Then her stomach rumbled.

“Food?”

“Food.” She agreed.

Pausing the movie, they made their way to the kitchen where they stocked up with armfuls of junk food. They grabbed the attention of Jasper and Maya, who decided they wanted to see LOTR as well. And so, they all ambled up the stairs back into the dim room.

 

Clarke and Bellamy spent the next three days watching all the LOTR and Harry Potter movies, only taking breaks when the rest of their friends forced them out of the dark living room. They would have been content just staying in, cuddling and obsessing over fictional worlds, but their friends wouldn’t have it.

“We are on vacation.” Octavia scolded. “You can do movie nights when we get home. We only have one more week before we go back. And I want to make the best of it. So get your asses up, we are drinking tonight. AND we are playing strip poker and twister. Go fix your hair Clarke.”

Clarke sighed from beside him. “Fine, Tavia. I’m going.” Her sister waited until she had stood up completely before following Clarke into her room. He could hear them bickering about what they should wear. “We are just staying home! Why can’t I keep my sweats on?!”

“Because Clarke.” His sister said in exasperation. “It’s the thought that fucking counts, okay?” Clarke huffed angrily, but emerged carrying an outfit and went into the restroom. When she turned on the water, Octavia rounded on him next. “And you, Bellamy Blake. Just because you two are all head over heels doesn’t mean you can take her away completely from me. I gave you the green light so don’t you dare give me the red one.”

He held his hands up, not wanting to get hit. “Hey, O, I’m not trying to take her away. We just seriously are having fun watching the movies.” His sisters face soften, but only a fraction before she rounded on her heels, entering his room. “What are you doing in my room?”

“Finding you clothes. You and Clarke have got to stop matching sweats.” Bellamy rolled his eyes, which awarded him a face full of fabric. Octavia had thrown his clothes at him. “Go change.” He got up and tiptoed around him to reach his room. “Hey Bell.” Octavia stopped him before he slipped into his door. He turned to face her slowly, waiting for more reprimands, but instead of anger, his sister’s face was in a wide grin, her eyes sparkling. “I’m glad you and Clarke are happy.” Then she stormed off down the stairs.

Bellamy stared at her receding figure, confused at her fluctuating mood. But growing up with her, he learned one thing; just go with it.

 

 

“Okay, so the rule of this game is to write down on the piece of paper how many people you have slept with. Once you’ve done that, put it into this bowl, which I will mix. Then we pass the bowl around and everyone takes out a slip. Your job is to guess who the number belongs to. Each wrong guess earns you a shot. If a person guesses your number, you need to chug this special drink our lovely bartenders have made for each of us.” Jasper mocked bowed at Clarke and Octavia. “Ready?”

Clarke hopped around in excitement. Their night was a fun one. Lincoln and Jasper had gone all the way to the town to bring them pizza, which in Clarke’s opinion was the best food to get drunk with. Octavia made her dress up, so she was wearing black short shorts (there had been a reason she never wore them). Her top was a white tank top with a picture of a Buddha, and it exposed her ribs. She felt pretty, but she also felt unnecessarily pretty. If that made sense. Because it didn’t to Octavia.

It had been fun to see Bellamy’s face when he saw her though. He was being careful not to overstep his boundaries with her, which she both liked and disliked. When they kissed, sometimes his control slipped and she caught a glimpse of the sexy hot womanizer beneath his kind surface. Clarke wasn’t sure if she was ready to enter anything with him—sexually. But sometimes, caution was throw out with her when she was under his dark gaze.

She put her number on the paper, making sure no one saw it, and folded it carefully. Only Octavia and Raven knew her number. Hopefully, one of them got it. She glanced over at Bellamy, who looked awkwardly down at his piece of paper.

Clarke snorted. Of course he’d feel awkward. He was a manwhore most of his life. Or so Octavia had told her. He looked up at her, frowning at her grin. She stuck his tongue out at him. Bellamy rolled his eyes at her, writing his number down quickly before folding it. He lifted his eyebrows at her, clearly saying ‘there. Did it.’

Maya walked around with the bowl and they all threw their slips in.

“Okay. Let’s gather around the coffee table, yeah?”

“Why is Jasper always the one organizing the games?” Murphy asked. He was perched on the recliner, looking at everyone with his usual bored expression. He always seemed disinterested, but Murphy was always involved with the games, never really sitting out. Clarke was sure his demeanor was all an act.

“Because Jasper always be playing.” Octavia stated seriously, earning chuckles from everyone.

“No. Because Jasper is the best at getting people drunk.” Jasper corrected. “Anyway, the bowl has been mixed. Pass it around and take out one slip. No peeking yet!” The bowl made its way around their circle. Clarke plucked one out, passing the bowl to Lincoln, who was sitting beside her.

“Who goes first?” Wick asked when the bowl was empty.

“You can go first, and then whoever’s number you have goes next.”

“Alright. I got the number eleven. Hmm, I wanna say—Murphy?”

“Pft, as if. Penalty shot.” “Really? Damn.” Wick took his shot. “So not Murphy—Bellamy?”

“Nope.”

“Fuck.” Another shot down. “Lincoln?” a silent shake of his head denied the number.

“Why are you only choosing guys?” Raven asked Wick after he took a third shot. He looked down at her in shock, holding the piece of paper up to her in question. “Another shot, Kyle. I was just asking.”

“God, I am going to die.” He took a deep breath, looking around the circle, trying to gauge everyone’s reactions. His eyes landed on Monty, who fidgeted. “Mont?”

“Er—yeah.”

“Eleven?!”

He bristled at the shocked tone. “Yeah. Eleven.” Monty reached over in front of him, taking the dangerous drink in front of him. With a deep breath, he chugged his cup. His face contorted in disgust, but he dutifully finished it all. “Ugh, Clarke, what was that?”

“Moonshine, sky vodka, club soda and Jolly Ranchers. Blueberry. Your favorite.” Clarke listed her connotation proudly.

“I think I want to throw up. Okay, I got the number three.” He glanced around the room, eyes landing on a still grinning Clarke. “Clarke?”

“Penalty shot.” She called out happily.

“Raven?” Raven saluted him.

“Yes sir.” Then she eyed Clarke’s drink warily, but drank it up without complaining. “I have—forty-three. Holy shit. Bellamy?”

Bellamy snorted. “Hell no. I don’t think I am that far gone.” He glanced quickly at Clarke, who let out a breath. Oh thank god his number wasn’t that high, she thought.

Raven took her shot before naming Murphy. He raised his arms, as if accepting a round of applause.

“How do you still have a penis?” Octavia asked.

“Most of these are one nighters.” He stated, shrugging while drinking up. When he read the number on his piece of paper, his eyes popped open. “One? One? Seriously?” he looked around the table at them all. “Damn. Maya?”

Maya shook her head with a smirk. “Penalty.”

“Uh—Jasper? You’re a noob.” Jasper snorted.

“Sorry to let you down, John. Penalty shot.”

Then Murphy met Clarke’s gaze. He smirked broadly. “Well then, it must be the Princess.”

Clarke didn’t answer, simply reaching forward to grab hold of her drink. She chugged it down, needing the burn down her throat to block out the burn spreading across her cheeks as everyone looked at her. Avoiding Bellamy’s penetrating gaze, she looked at her slip. “I have the number fourteen. Uhh—Miller?” At the shake of his head, she took a shot. “Maya?” she knew it wouldn’t be hers, Clarke just needed an extra shot. “Wick?” Damn, she thought it would be his. “Bellamy?” he smiled at her, but shook his head. “Oh my god, okay. Um—“ she looked around the circle. “Lincoln!”

Lincoln grinned at her, drinking his cup quicker than anyone else had. The game continued on until all their numbers had been chosen. Clarke was glad her moment hadn’t been the most awkward. Bellamy had accidentally chosen his sisters number.

“Nine?! Nine?? Seriously Octavia? Who were the nine?!” Octavia groaned in horror, her face flaming.

Bellamy’s number was pretty high, thirty-one. He looked at Clarke apologetically, as if she was going to scold him. She simply snorted, handing him another shot.

 

 

“FLIP, STRIP OR SIP.” Octavia called out happily. An hour passed since they stopped playing a game. They had been lounging outside, letting their livers rest for a moment.

“How do you play that?” Maya asked.

“We sit in a circle--"

“No duh.”

Octavia glared at Raven for interrupting, but continued on. “Okay. So we get out a quarter and a person flips it in the air. Call heads or tails.” She flipped a quarter up as an example. “If you get it right, you’re safe and you just pass the coin to the person to the right of you. If you get it wrong, you choose to take a sip of your cup for five seconds or you take off one piece of clothing. BUT.” Octavia held up a finger, grinning wickedly. “You can only do everything once, meaning if you chose to take a sip, next time you HAVE to remove clothing.”

“Are you just trying to get everyone naked?” Clarke asked in horror.

“Who cares?” Jasper said.

“If we are going to play this, I need more layers.” Maya started to stand up, Clarke quickly following her. They came back out ten minutes later. Clarke added tights under her shorts, two sweaters and socks. Octavia muttered under her breath, something about prudes, but she ignored her friend, sitting back down in the circle.

Lincoln went first, guessing his coin correctly. Octavia was next, earning herself a shot. Wick took off his shirt, waggling his eyebrows down at Raven, who rolled her eyes and guessed correctly. Miller took a shot, Monty took off a shoe, Bellamy took a shot, Murphy guessed correctly, Maya took a shot, Jasper took off his pants (“Go big or go home.” He said.) and Clarke took a shot.

A short hour later, they all sat around in a circle in different states of nakedness. Clarke was left in one sock, her underwear and her tank top. The only one looking decent was Raven and Lincoln, who kept guessing correctly. Octavia was soley in her bra and underwear.

“I think we should play another game.” Clarke suggested. For someone who had originally suggested the game, Octavia agreed quickly.

“Let’s play Red Rover.” Murphy said. “Since you guys feel the need to play all these childish games.” He was naked, a pillow covering his—package. They hadn’t thought he would actually get naked, but lo and behold.

“Oh my god, that sounds like fun.” Raven perked up. “Let’s do it!” Everyone took a minute to put their clothes back on, stumbling around trying to cover themselves.

“How do we make that into a drinking game?” Monty asked, looking over at Jasper, who thought for a minute.

"Well, Red Rover is pretty ordinary, right? Two groups. One calls a person over. If they break the chain, they come back to their side, taking a person with them?”

“No, I think they just go back. The only time a person switches over is if a person CAN’T the chain.” Clarke corrected him. “Right?”

“Oh semantics. Alright, rules will be—whoever gets called over takes a shot if they don’t break the chain. If they do break the chain, they choose one player from the opposite team to take the shot.” They all walked over to the stretch of grass besides the lake. Lining up in teams, they began the game. Team one consisted of Clarke, Murphy, Jasper, Monty and Raven. Team two was the Blake siblings, Miller, Wick, and Maya. Lincoln sat out, saying he didn’t want to hurt anyone. With his huge built, that was a legit possibility.

“Red Rover, Red Rover.” Octavia taunted. “Let Monty come over.” Monty tried. He really did try. But he went straight for the Blake siblings. Everyone should know not to try and go through them. Their linked arms didn’t allow him through. With his mandated shot, he joined their team. Clarke’s team got Wick. Bellamy’s team had to take a shot when Murphy rammed his way through Miller and Octavia.

They played until everyone was sweaty faced and nearly dehydrating. Clarke felt more sober after having ran around. Apparently everyone else felt the same.

“Can we play a game that gets us drunk now?” Raven grumbled as they all made their way into the kitchen. Clarke handed her a water bottle before chugging her own.

“Have you guys ever just sat around and get drunk normally?” Bellamy asked, wiping his face with a napkin. Mm, thought Clarke. Bellamy looks cuter sweaty.

“That’s boring.” Octavia made a face. “It really is. The games make everything more fun.”

“I feel like I just went through a P.E. class.” Miller grumbled.

“Fine.” Monty said. “Why don’t you and Bellamy show us how you guys get drunk, then.” Miller smirked at the challenge. He and Bellamy exchanged glances.

At Bellamy’s nod, Miller grinned widely. “Alright, kiddies. Gather around. We are going to play my favorite game.”

“I thought you said no games?” Monty asked. Miller turned to him and grinned wickedly.

 

 

Four hours later, Clarke could not lift her head off of the ground. Holy shit, she thought weakly. Miller had given them all a bottle of some liquor. Clarke had gotten a coconut flavored rum.

“If everything is still in this bottle by the time the sun rises, you lose. That is the only rule.”

So they all sat outside at the lake’s edge. Each person held conversations with several other people, sometimes as a group, sometimes in pairs. Clarke listened to them all; from Jasper talking about different types of weed and how he missed smoking, to Monty and Miller’s attempt at subtle flirting.

The last thing Clarke remembers was seeing the sun begin to rise, pinks and oranges streaking across the sky like fingers. She rolled her head to look at her now empty bottle. With a lot of difficulty, she managed to grasp onto it, lifting the glass bottle over her head.

“I win!” she slurred, letting the bottle drop away from her.

A familiar chuckle sounded from somewhere near her. “Yeah you did, Princess.” She barely heard Bellamy, already fading out into unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I am having too much fun with all these drinking games. I should stop now.

**Author's Note:**

> Stay tuned. I have a few more chapters coming up. Any feedback would be awesome. Like I said, this is my first time writing. So if I am missing out on anything, feel free to give me constructive criticism. Thank you for reading! And don't forget to leave Kudos!


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